I love my new job, but I swear it is sending me down rabbit holes. I spend 8 hours a day reading through the charts of terminally ill patients and making sure they qualify for the hospice care they are receiving. All humans should qualify for medical care that makes our quality of life better and more comfortable, but that’s a whole other rant for a different day.

Today I am writing after going down a rabbit hole about the pharmaceutical industry, the FDA and alternatives to prescription medicines. The amounts of drugs prescribed each day feels exorbitant to me, and I wonder if they are all necessary. That’s what lead me to read Death by Prescription by Ray D. Strand MD

Amazon Description :

Experienced family doctor Ray Strand writes his patients prescriptions every week, but he also believes that prescribing drugs should be a last resort in most medical cases-not a first choice. In Death by Prescription he provides simple guidelines to help readers protect themselves and their families from suffering adverse reactions to prescription medication.

My Review

I have always found it odd how many commercials there are for prescription drugs. The majority of people watching TV aren’t doctors and therefore aren’t qualified to know if a new medication is effective for treating themselves. The fact that the government allows these commercials but not ones for cigarettes is just bizarre, after all we know the FDA regulates both.

I knew the FDA wasn’t “protecting” Americans, but before reading this book, I didn’t realize that more than 50% of their funding comes from pharmaceutical companies. They are literally paid to approve medications at a fast pace. Then once they hit the market, side effects are reported on an voluntary basis to data entry clerks. Most of the time, the worst thing that happens is a medication gets a new warning label. Very rarely is one removed from circulation.

Instead of focusing on keeping the population safe and healthy, pharmaceutical side effects become a blame game. Pharmaceutical companies claim no responsibility, because they did the testing required for approval. The FDA has no responsibility, because they provide warnings for doctors. Doctors aren’t to blame, because they can only talk about side effects they know and the pharmacist should council the patient. The pharmacist gave the patient the warning inserts, it’s their fault.

Well heck! If I the patient am responsible for my medical care then why do we pay the doctors, pharmacists, FDA and pharmaceutical companies? Oh wait! Maybe It’s not about keeping people safe and healthy. It’s about making sure everyone makes money off your ailment.

I know we are all going to need some form of pharmaceuticals in our lifetime. Heck my daughter is getting a ton as we speak while laying in her hospital bed. I’m just saying sometimes we should start with something like hot tea for a sore throat before we buy numbing spray, or cranberry juice for UTI symptoms before we run to the doctor. Let’s stop creating super bugs and start embracing the nutrients in Mother Nature.