44 percent of Americans take prescription drugs

[OC]

Good grief. We're a nation of hypochondriacs that demand pills to solve all our problems.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6637221/

[zippyjuan]

And a lot of the things that people take prescriptions for can be dealt with as effectively (and sometimes more safely) and cheaply with over-the-counter medications. But with some insuranvce plans, the consumer pays less out-of-pocket for the prescription than the OTC and the insurance pays the rest. If people actually paid what drugs cost, they would use less of them and the drug companies would not be able to charge as much and insurance would also be a lot less. Only life-threatening drugs (take them or die like anti-rejection drugs for transplant patients or diabetic drugs) should be fully covered. Elective drugs like Viagra and allergy medications should charge full price.

[Showtime]

66% here.

I hope I live out my life without having to take prescription drugs on any kind of regular basis.

-j

[blueindian]

a lot of times folks take meds to counter the side effects of the other meds they are taking, which particularly retarded in many cases.

[welfareloser]

probably 20% or more are simple allergy pills... one of the side effects of modern living. i'd bet at least 5% is for diabetes. another 40-50% is probably really old folks just trying to mitigate the effects of aging (joints... kidneys... etc.) and improve the quality of the last 1/3 of their lives. it's not like 44% of americans take valium. i don't think it's anything to shake our heads about.

if there was a pill that would mitigate a physical or mental problem, i wouldn't be squeamish about taking it. not being on prescription drugs isn't really a point of pride for me - i'm just lucky enough not to have cancer, arthritis, diabetes...

please note that birth control and antibiotics are by prescription only.

[Jcranmer]

Heh, I only take 12.5 pills per day, and at least 4 injections of insulin as well.

[look_ma]

please note that birth control and antibiotics are by prescription only.

yuh, dont forget about other stuff, like acme medicine, anti skin irritants, little blue pills, etc. But the point of the article is, we take alot of medications, some doctors are really pill happy. I know when I go he just writes prescriptions like a mofo.

[nickel]

yuh, dont forget about other stuff, like acme medicine, anti skin irritants, little blue pills, etc. But the point of the article is, we take alot of medications, some doctors are really pill happy. I know when I go he just writes prescriptions like a mofo.

hmmm... acme medicine...

is that what Wile E. Coyote tried to get the Road Runner to take?

[usedillusion]

i believe it. i'm under 25 and i'm on three daily medications (none are for mental or contraceptive purposes). even more if i would've listened to the psychiatrist.

[welfareloser]

But the point of the article is, we take alot of medications, some doctors are really pill happy. I know when I go he just writes prescriptions like a mofo.

see, that's the thing... the article didn't have a point. if the person who wrote it really was trying to make the point that some doctors/patients are pill-happy, none of the quoted statistics back that up at all.

for example, it says that it's 44% overall, with about 35% for males and 55% for females... i'd be willing to bet that that discrepancy is almost entirely explained by birth control pills/shots/patches. so what was the point of quoting those numbers? to show that women get prescriptions for birth control and men can't? we knew that.

a breakdown by age groups, by types of meds... that might have revealed some interesting trends. pill-happy? i can think of a lot of facts to advance that idea... none of which appear in that article.

the article said nothing more than that we take more and more drugs every year... i guess it is economic news, if nothing else.

[InfiniteNothing]

yuh, dont forget about other stuff, like acme medicine, anti skin irritants, little blue pills, etc. But the point of the article is, we take alot of medications, some doctors are really pill happy. I know when I go he just writes prescriptions like a mofo.

Article said nothing of the sort. And if doctors are pill happy it's because of our litigeous society. I've talked to my doctor and he says that if he says you're fine and doesn't give you pills... and say a simple disease like bronchitis (which you can usually lick without antibiotics) becomes pnumonia and you die, your familly can sue. He told me that in India they are much better about perscribing pills. What he usually does for me is he writes me a perscription and urges me to have it filled but only take it if I get worse.