Tag: Medication

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Are We Medicalizing Normality?

In a commentary published in the October 20, 2011 issue of The Journal of Pediatrics, Dr. Eric Hassall cautions that medicine has turned normal function in infants into a disease complete with drug therapy and the resulting list of adverse events.

The problem lies in the fact that many doctors are viewing frequent spitting up, irritability and unexplained crying in infants under the age of one as a medical condition because the symptoms are distressing to parents. This has resulted in an increase in written prescriptions for acid-suppression medication over the last decade. Continue reading “Are We Medicalizing Normality?”

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How to Avoid Being Overtreated

In the field of medicine and health care, research continues to prove that when it comes to treatment – less is more. From a recent article in the NY Times:

More than 40 percent of 627 primary care doctors thought their own patients were overtreated; only 6 percent thought the patients received too little care, according to a survey published last week in Archives of Internal Medicine.

Why so many tests and referrals? Limited time to spend with patients, fear of being sued and financial incentives to do more were among the reasons cited by the physicians. Patients often worry about the cost of overtreatment but fail to recognize the potential harm of undergoing too many tests and procedures. Continue reading “How to Avoid Being Overtreated”

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Before You Take That Pill…

A recent CNN Health News article asks the question – Are you taking too many medications?  The article tells the story of Alesandra Rain, whose sleeping problem turned into a downward spiral of medications and side effects. At her worst, Alesandra Rain was spending more than $900 a month on prescriptions, seeing 6 specialists, taking 12 different types of medication amounting to about a thousand pills a month, none able to cure her chronic insomnia and depression.  She was slowly losing herself.  When you’re on that many different prescriptions it’s hard to recognize where the pills end and you begin.

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident. This story happens way too often in America today. In fact, the average American fills 12 prescriptions a year. “I don’t think people really understand the nature of medication; the drugs will, by definition, have some toxic, collateral side effects,” Continue reading “Before You Take That Pill…”