Blog Five Assignment

Prescription Drugs in our Society

                One of the greatest problems facing our society today is the growing opioid epidemic. Though it does not receive much attention in the media, it’s devastating effects have only increased over time with the popularity of these drugs. Vox.com recently released an article entitled “Another Shocking Statistic Aboutthe Opioid Epidemic” by German Lopez, in which the article points out that in the U.S. alone opioids “kill more people than guns or car accidents, even HIV at its peak killed less people, and between 1999 to 2015, opioids have killed more people than the population in Atlanta”. Mr. Lopez mentions the long-term and short-term effects that these drugs have on our citizens and how multiple family generations suffer from it, as grandparents are left with the sadness of losing a child and charged with the burden of having to care for their grandchildren.  

                According to the Mayo Clinic, “nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescription drug, more than half take two, and 20 percent are taking five or more drugs”. What does this mean for the pharmaceutical companies? It means about $300 billion dollars annually for the global pharmaceutical market. No wonder these companies go to great lengths to advertise their products and give doctors who prescribe their products “gifts”. Although the doctors who receive payments argue that this does not affect the way they prescribe medication to their patients, NPR found that “doctors who receive more than $5,000 from companies in 2014 typically had the highest brand-name prescribing percentages”. Even worse is that these doctors and companies are not held liable for the deaths related to their products since the side effects of these drugs are available for the patient to research but often times are not disclosed by the prescribing doctor. Studies also show that states would benefit greatly by expanding their drug treatment programs as orphaned children cause a strain on the state’s child services. This is something that cannot be ignored any longer by our national government, laws must be put in place to make people more accountable for the outbreak of this addiction and try and invest in addiction programs that would save the government millions in the long term.