Lina Mohamed Blog Post 1
Lina Mohamed September 12, 2016
MHC 20301
Professor Glen Kowach
-Politicization of Health Care and Dangers of Painkillers- Possible Future Alternatives
Pharmaceuticals, drugs, health care, it is all just a business. Prices for drugs are constantly on the rise and people will not always be able to afford the care they need. Providers of healthcare are just looking for their own interests and ways to maximize benefits even if it means harming the consumers.
Painkillers are an important part of may people’s lives. Whether consumers are taking it for a cold, headaches, body pain, painkillers are often taken without enough caution. This is not always the consumer’s fault because labels can often leave out information about mixing painkillers with other painkillers or alcohol, for example. This leads to people overdosing because they do not know the correct amount when taking painkillers and then high doses of acetaminophen, for example, can lead to serious liver damage. This problem especially affects older people because as they get older they get addicted to painkillers such as sleep aids and opiate drugs and this was found to be linked to some deaths. Older people also tend to consume alcohol in excess amounts than that of which is safe to drink with these painkillers. Some corporations do change their labels to add information after being sued or other serious situations. However, providers just believe that the benefits of these painkillers/drugs outweigh the risks.
Over the counter drugs just mask symptoms without getting deep down to fix the problem or cure the disease/virus/infection. Will this stop companies from selling painkillers and advertising them as the solution? No. Healthcare providers and pharmaceutical corporations just want to sell products without thinking of the harm they are causing. In the future, I believe that natural alternatives should replace all types of drugs/pills that cause harm to the human bodies. Why would people continue to take pills that tire their livers and cause harm to themselves when most symptoms have natural remedies? Natural remedies can be easily found in nature to cure some of these illnesses. Of course not all illnesses and diseases have natural remedies but for most there are natural remedies that will actually benefit humans more than pills while costing much less. Some examples of natural remedies: for pain; get professional hands-on help that will fix the problem and not just mask the symptoms, for cholesterol; change your diet instead of just taking pills; for high blood pressure; start off with pills if needed then switch to natural therapies to help you quit the medication, for acid-reflux; try slippery-elm lozenges that will coat your throat and stomach instead of Prilosec or other things, for sinus infections; use saline nasal washes instead of turning to meds, etc..
The truth is, the United States is an over-medicated nation that spends more than 300 billion dollars on prescription drugs every year. This is a huge income for many companies and our nation as a whole. This means that converting to natural remedies most likely will not happen anytime soon because people do not know what to turn to. This is because natural remedies aren’t advertised because then pharmaceuticals would lose a great amount of money. However, if people look into these natural remedies and it starts to become more advertised, people will catch on and learn to be more aware of what the are putting into their bodies while saving money at the same time.
Resources:
– Chorniy, Anna. (2015, n. pg.) Essays on the Health Economics of Pharmaceuticals. Clemson University, Tiger Prints. Retrieved from Google Scholar:
http://tigerprints.clemson.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2474&context=all_dissertations
-Corbett, Holly. (2012, n. pg.) Natural Alternatives To The Top Most Prescribed Drugs. Prevention. Retrieved from:
http://www.prevention.com/health/top-10-prescription-drugs-and-natural-remedies
-Friedman, Michael. (2015, n. pg.) Substance Abuse and Misuse in Older Adults. Behavioral Health News. Retrieved from Google Scholar:
http://www.mhaofnyc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Substance-Abuse-BHN-Winter15.pdf
-Desmon, Stephanie. (2013, n. pg.) Politicization of Health Care Preventing Real Changes to Out-Of-Control System, Researchers Suggest. John Hopkins Medicine. Retrieved from Google Scholar:
