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Americans Getting Addicted to Prescription Drugs

by David Turner

Slowly and steadily America is becoming a nation of prescription drugs! Doesn't that sound alarming but surprisingly that's true. Prescription drugs have become a necessity for the citizens of America; stats reveal that almost half of the Americans take one Prescription Drug daily and one out of every six takes three to four daily. The dependency of Americans on prescription drugs is increasing at an alarming rate which really is a matter of concern for the authorities. That statistic ought to have some shock value but that's true.

Such a surplus demand has led to drug trafficking, a lot of unsafe illegal drugs have emerged which do not any how match the FDA norms. The emergence of such drugs have left patients confused, drug companies defensive and government officials at odds over how to fix the problem.
What's to be blamed for such a phenomenal dependency on drugs?

Lifestyle: The work based culture of the Americans has been a prominent cause for their dependency on drugs. We sacrifice a hell lot of thing for our productivity and performance which includes health. We are in a run for success and money at any cost and that provokes us to depend on pills.

The Advertisement Effect: The market of prescription has not hit the bull's eye just by offering effectual products or caring for their customers, in fact drugs are selling like hot cakes because of the alluring advertisements. The ads do not reveal any of the side effects of the product which has helped in enhancing their demand. Surprisingly last year almost 8.5 million Americans asked their doctors for a drug by name.

The Bayh-Dole Act: This act passed by the Congress in 1981 made it easier for companies to use research discoveries originated from publicly funded laboratories. Thus, instead of incurring research and development costs, the pharmaceutical companies now enjoyed the option of buying patent rights from National Institutes of Health scientists for lucrative drug discoveries.

An Option For Everyone: The drug manufacturer offer an option for each and every age group which has further incremented their popularity. For the youths there is Ritalin, Neurontin (an anti-epileptic prescribed off-label for bipolar disorder) and Wellbutrin (an antidepressant). However such drugs put a question mark on the kids' long term thinking capacity. For the middle age individuals there are pills for heartburn, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, depression, erectile dysfunction etc. For elders the options are same as the middle aged people but they might also add prescriptions for osteoporosis, prostate disorders, rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes.

Conclusion: It's your money and your life, the price of prescription drugs takes the heart out of your pocket. Not only that they are equally dangerous, it's difficult for your body organs to cope up with these drugs and gradually they fail. The use of drugs has been the most familiar reason for heart or liver damage. So be aware and try to prevent or at least limit yourself from the clutches of prescription drugs.