Conventional Medicine The Right Choice?

Is Conventional Medicine the Right Choice?

Americans are turning to a safer, affordable, and more natural means of treating ailments due to the increased number of deaths, addictions and side effects from conventional medicine. Alternative medicine offers a wider range of natural drugs and treatments with fewer side effects than that of prescription medication. The benefit is to the consumer and not to the pharmaceutical companies that continue to make large profits off of below standard drugs. The danger lies in the misconstrued clinical trials that the pharmaceutical companies' conduct and the fact that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) uses their biased opinions to approve their "safe" drug.

There is a variety of complementary and alternative medicine, also referred to as CAM, available to Americans that are less risky than prescription medication. "CAM is a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not presently considered to be part of conventional medicine . . . ." (NCCAM). Complementary medicine is often used in conjunction with conventional medicine such as aromatherapy. Alternative medicine is used instead of conventional medicine such natural herbal supplements, acupuncture, and massage. These methods of treatment are becoming more popular as the prescription of choice rather than conventional medicine.

Deaths from conventional medicine have not been brought to light. Statistical evidence has been researched to prove that there have been an increased number of deaths due to dangerous prescription drugs that should have never been put on the market to begin with. "The total number of deaths caused by conventional medicine is nearly 800,000 cases per year. It is now evident that the American medical system is the leading cause of death and injury in the U.S." (Null, Feldman, Rasio, & Smith, 2006 p.67). With such strong statistical evidence, how can the government continue to let pharmaceutical companies bully them around? Millions of Americans are dieing and no one seems to be concerned about it.

Vioxx, a COX-2 inhibitor, is one drug that is an example of extreme negligence released by the Merck & Co. and approved by the FDA in 1999. Vioxx was a non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drug that was used to treat pain mainly for arthritis patients was one of the top selling drugs. Due to the inaccurate testing by this pharmaceutical company ". . . an estimated 27,785 heart attacks and sudden cardiac deaths could have been avoided" (MSNBC, 2004). Another example of a major drug recall is a diet drug called Redux. This weight loss drug was marketed by Wyeth Pharmacueticals. Redux is widely known around the world as fen-phen and has been found to cause pulmonary hypertension and valvular heart disease. "Despite noted safety concerns, the manufacturer, as well as doctors and diet clinics, aggressively marketed the fen-phen combination" (Golden, 1997). These drugs are a few examples of the many dangerous drugs that were approved by the FDA and recalled. This action took place only after thousands of innocent Americans, ordinary people, who put faith and trust into conventional medicine, were tragic victims of the pharmaceutical companies' carelessness.

In today's society, the added stresses of daily living and dealing with problems, people are looking for a more blissful existence by finding relief from such issues. Prescription drugs when used to treat depression can be extremely dangerous. Patients learn to cope with their emotions by medicating themselves to feel better. They learn by taking a prescription drug that they can deal with their depression. "Today's marketing of mood-modifying drugs such as Prozac Ð'® and Zoloft Ð'® makes them not only socially acceptable, but almost a necessity in today's stressful world" (Null et al. 2006 p.73). Recently the facts were brought out of the closet on these two drugs. Brownlee (2004) stated that "these popular antidepressants to be no better than placebos, but never saw print in the medical journals, a fact that is coming to light only now that the FDA has launched a reexamination of those drugs."

With the greed to make more money, pharmaceutical companies have gone to the major expense by marketing their products not only on television commercials but also in newspaper and magazine ads. These three forms of media are the largest viewed by the American public. Ads for these high priced drugs show how the consumer's life could drastically be improved by taking their medication. Americans are given false hope that their life will be like the one portrayed on the commercials when it is a misconception. At the end of the ad, they announce very quickly the possible side effects of taking the drug. Unfortunately, most Americans are still caught up in the euphoric feelings they will have that they are on the phone to their doctors before the commercial ends requesting a prescription for the same ad they just seen on television. The side effects or addiction of a medication are too easily dismissed by the patient and the doctor. Those side effects can cause life-long problems that one can never reverse the damage of. Such adverse reactions often go unreported to the FDA by physicians due to the fear of being sued.

Americans can get addicted to prescription drugs just like they do to illegal forms of drugs might surprise some people. Among the most abused prescription drugs are opioids, prescribed for treating pain, depressants for treating anxiety and sleep disorders, and stimulants which are used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). These mood-altering drugs give the patient a false hope and their clouded minds do not function properly. How do patients get addicted to drugs you may ask? "Addicts have many ways of getting their fix, and one is "double-doctoring" where a patient will see two or three different doctors, in different areas, and get prescriptions from each" (Roy, 2003). Doctors spend approximately 10 minutes with every patient to review their symptoms. They are not educated in how to deal with the drug addictions than can occur with the more powerful drugs that are readily available. These factors along with the fact that there is no system currently in place to monitor if the patient has been prescribed this medication by another doctor.

Alternative medicine can offer the consumer a more natural and safer approach to treating pain. The treatments available are gaining more popularity. If the consumer chooses to take supplements, they need do their homework to verify the safety of the herbs and what they are treating. It is important to contact a doctor if currently taking prescribed medication before adding