Why Prescription Drugs Are Not Always the Answer

Prescription drugs are a multi-billion-dollar business in this country alone. Worldwide, unimaginable amounts of money are made from manufacturing and selling medications, locally and through online pharmacies. The pharmaceutical industry is now so big that one would think prescription drugs are the right solution for every problem. They are not. A prescription is not always the answer.

Unfortunately, Western medicine has come to depend on the pharmacological approach to healing. Even worse, we depend on it at the expense of all other options. Far too many medical professionals are quick to insist that a prescription is always better than chiropractic, acupuncture, aromatherapy, regenerative medicine, etc.

Prescription drugs are the answer in some cases. They are not in every case. If you need convincing, here are just a few reasons to be more careful about prescription medications:

1. Prescription Drugs Can Be Addictive

Certain prescription medications can be addictive. The worst are highly addictive. Think of opioids. The U.S. has seen an explosion in opioid abuse over the last 20 years due to careless dispensing. Manufacturers have been pushing opioids while doctors have been more than happy to write prescriptions. The end result has been a drug epidemic fueled by legal means.

Opioids are not the only addictive drugs doctors dispense via prescription. Most sleeping medications are potentially addictive. So are medications used to treat certain types of mental illness. Shouldn’t we be circumspect about prescribing a drug that could turn a patient into an addict?

2. Medications Can Be Completely Ineffective

Believe it or not, more than one doctor has written a prescription simply because they knew a patient wanted one. It is easier to write a prescription and send the patient home than actually deal with the problem. In many such cases, the drugs being prescribed are completely ineffective.

Antibiotics are perfect example. These are ineffective against viruses. Yet how often are they prescribed to patients complaining of common cold or flu symptoms? You could have an amoxicillin prescription filled online by Canada Pharmacy without ever knowing the drug will not help you at all. There is something definitely wrong with that.

3. Medications May Only Mask Symptoms

Prescription drugs may not be the answer if their only purpose is to mask symptoms. A classic example is prescribing painkillers to osteoarthritis patients. The medication does nothing to address the root of the problem – bones grinding on one another due to lost cartilage. All it does is suppress the pain response.

Stem cell and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections might be a better treatment for osteoarthritis. We don’t know for sure due to a lack of clinical research, but the treatments are worth looking in to, nonetheless. If the injections promote healing as they are said to, wouldn’t that be better than simply masking arthritis pain with a drug?

4. Medications Are Not Holistic

By their nature, prescription medications are not holistic. They only address a particular condition or the symptoms of that condition. Moreover, most prescription drugs come with side effects. It is why we often talk about the cure being worse than the disease.

There are more holistic ways to practice medicine. The holistic approach does not concentrate on just one malady to the exclusion of everything else. Rather, it seeks to promote good health throughout the entire body. This seems like a better approach.

Prescription drugs do serve a vital role whether they are purchased locally or through online pharmacies. But they are not always the right answer. We would do well to consider that, especially given the free-market nature of our healthcare and pharmaceutical systems.