Criticisms of Medication
Prescription drugs are a large part of medical care in the United States. As of 2015, approximately 60% of Americans were taking prescription drugs.[1] Although prescription drugs are important to medical care in the United States, there are concerns with how medications affect the body and how they are prescribed.
Adverse Drug Events
Errors in prescriptions may cause adverse drug events. Adverse drug events (ADE) are injuries that take place during the time period a drug is being used, although they are not necessarily caused by the drug. Most ADEs happen after a medical error has occurred. ADEs can cause hospitalization, prolonged hospital stays, additional resource utilization, time away from work, and lower patient satisfaction. In an impatient study, the frequency of medication error was about 5.3% of 100 medication orders.[2]
Disruption of Body Processes
Taking some medications may cause more harm than good because they can inhibit beneficial responses by the body. According to Leo Galland, M.D. in an article from the Huffington Post, medications “interfere with the natural and healthy functions of the body”.[3] In many cases, medications are taken in response to a specific sign or symptom but this sign or symptom may be a reaction to a bigger problem.[3]
People may react negatively to a certain medication and while some of these outcomes are considered the side effects of the medication, other negative effects are known as “nocebo” effects.[4] According to Klarić et al., “...by nocebo effect, due to negative beliefs and expectations, opposite results [from the desired effects of the medicine] are achieved...”.[4] In other words, patients who are told the negative side effects of a drug are more likely to experience these negative effects than patients who do not receive this information. For some patients, nocebo effects make the medication worse than the condition they are taking the medication for, although it is difficult to know which patients will be affected the most by nocebo effects.
Overdiagnosis of Mental Illness
Overdiagnosis and overtreatment of mental health conditions are other problems with medications. Prescribing medications to those who are diagnosed with mental health conditions ignores the underlying causes of the conditions and does not provide patients with beneficial lifestyle changes that may improve their quality of life.[5] Peter Gøtzsche, professor and director of the Nordic Cochrane Centre in Denmark, states that most mental health medications do not work and that half a million people over the age of 65 die each year from using psychiatric drugs.[6] However, there are opponents to Gøtzsche’s arguments, including Dr. Simon Ridley of Alzheimer’s Research UK and Dr. Doug Brown, director of research and development at the Alzheimer’s Society, who claim that in some cases, psychiatric drugs help patients with their conditions.[6] There have not been enough studies into the effectiveness of mental health medications for there to be a definitive solution to the problem.
Medications with potentially dangerous side effects may also be prescribed to those without actual mental health conditions. According to Katti Grey from CNN, there is a “growing group of psychiatrists, psychologists and clinical social workers from around the world who argue that depression and other normal responses to life's toughest challenges are too often labeled as disorders - and as such, demand medicine with sometimes dangerous side effects”.[5] Children are disproportionately affected by the overdiagnosis of mental health conditions and therefore are more greatly affected by the negative side effects of the medications.[5] According to Dr. Bernard Carroll, the scientific director of the Pacific Behavioral Research Foundation, “...many of these kids...have never had anything other than irritability. Yet they're exposed to anti-convulsants, anti-psychotic drugs, which have serious long-term side effects in the form of obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes and some movement disorders ... that can leave a person extremely disfigured physically...".[5] The possibility of harming children with these medications is a concern for parents and doctors alike although they are still commonly used.
References
- ↑ "Nearly 60 percent of Americans — the highest ever — are taking prescription drugs". Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-03-06.
- ↑ Morimoto, T. (2004). "Adverse Drug Events and Medication Errors: Detection and Classification Methods" (PDF). BMJ Journals.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Gall, Leo; M.D. (2010-08-07). "Why Medication Can Be Dangerous to Your Health". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2017-03-06.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Klarić, M. (2017). "Placebo and nocebo effects and their significance in clinical practice" (PDF). Medicinski Glasnik. doi:10.17392/892-16.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 CNN, By Katti Gray, Special to. "Are we over-diagnosing mental illness? - CNN.com". CNN. Retrieved 2017-03-06.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 editor, Sarah Boseley Health (2015-05-12). "Psychiatric drugs do more harm than good, says expert". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-03-06.
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