THE OVERUSE OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS: A 21ST CENTURY PROBLEM
According to Joyce, Escarce, Solomon and Goldman (2002), spending on outpatient prescription drugs has rapidly increased in the last ten years and is now the third largest aspect of health care expenses. Only hospital care and physician services are higher. In this regard, Haugh, Thrall and Scalise (2002) have pointed out that as American health care increasingly relies on prescription drugs, hospitals,
...are caught in an increasingly painful situation. Shortages of critical pharmaceuticals often leave hospitals empty-handed and, according to clinicians, endanger patient safety. Soaring drug costs account for a huge proportion of burgeoning health care spending, and strategies to control costs, including pharmacy benefit managers and drug discount cards for seniors, so far have had limited or negligible success. Direct-to-consumer advertising has increased demand for expensive--and according to some experts, unnecessary or inappropriate--prescription drugs. (p. 44)
The economic costs to society in general and to medical healthcare facilities in particular are not the only serious consequences of the problem. Strand (2003) reports that the overuse of certain prescription drugs can lead to psychological and physical dependence, or addiction. As a result of dependence, the drug has to be taken regularly to prevent withdrawal symptoms developing. Even when the drug has not been taken for a while, people who are addicted often get cravings for the drug. This is because their bodies have become dependent on the drug to function normally.
In still other cases, patients can experience far graver physical consequences. One very well-known case involving the over use of prescription medication was that of fen-phen diet drugs which were routinely prescribed for people who were not truly obese. As noted by Stafford and Radley (2003), the overuse of this medication had tr...