THE OVERUSE OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS

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

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(2003) notes that advertisements by pharmaceutical companies are also contributing to the problem. For example, the manufacturers of omerprazole (Prilosec) spent over $72 million dollars in 2002 advertising their drug. The ads were so good that the medication became the most frequently requested drug by patients for heartburn problems. However, most people with frequent heartburn do not need heartburn medication half as much as they need to change their lifestyle. In most cases, they need to lose weight, avoid certain tight clothing, stop smoking, eat more slowly, and/or minimize certain foods and beverages such as alcohol, coffee, and carbonated drinks. In still other cases, very mild heartburn medications, even over-the-counter drugs, will work just as effectively. The more expensive drugs should not even be tried until these other remedies fail. In some cases, the patient's condition is actually caused by the overuse of medication. For example, approximately 11 million Americans suffer from moderate to severe migraine headaches resulting not only in pain but in millions of lost work days each year. However, according to Fritsche and Diener (2002) these patients are now well established as being at risk for developing "drug

Category: Medical - T