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Xitlali Guzman
Professor Eric Kufs
English 114B
24 February 2015
Dependent on Drugs
In our society today, medicine has been able to save lives, but it can also destroy them.
When the public thinks about prescription drugs, they tend to not associate these legal substances
with danger, as they would do with illegal drugs. According to the Center of Disease Control
website, In 2013, of the 43,982 drug overdose deaths in the United States, 22,767 (51.8%) were
related to pharmaceuticals. The statistics show that half of these deaths were cause by drugs that
a doctor could potentially subscribe. Knowing these statistics, many individuals choose to turn to
prescription drugs for the easy solution while some doctors will just prescribe the medicine to
make the appointment go by faster. This action simply puts a band-aid over the situation and
does not actually solve the problem. On the other hand, many individuals do become addicted to
the medication, and it becomes their vice. At the same time, doctors and patients are just the
puppets controlled by pharmaceutical companies. These companies are all about the profit, and
they lose sight that the medicine they distribute can save a life but destroy countless others.
Many people argue that prescription drugs can be a remedy or a short-term solution to many
health issues. However, the misuse of prescription drugs has caused harmful effects on society by
allowing it to be the quick solution to every health problem, an addictive substance, and allowing
pharmaceutical companies to manipulate their power.
Prescription drugs do help people because they become a remedy for many illnesses or
for a short-term solution. Also, medicine can help a person live longer or have a longer life even

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though they have a life threatening condition. For example, those who have high blood pressure
need the medicine to regulate their blood pressure to a normal level. In addition, there are many
other conditions in which people can benefit from prescription drugs and allow them to live a
good quality of lifestyle. Furthermore, there are other uses to prescription drugs that are not long
term. For instance, there are medicines used to help the patient with pain or discomfort. As a
result, pharmaceuticals are a helpful tool to help people live with higher quality of life, but they
are leading society into becoming overmedicated.
Fast cars, fast food, and rapid information in the palm of everyones hand is leading to a
world accustomed to instant gratification. So why not have healthcare run at the same pace?
Unfortunately, it would not be a benefit to have doctors practically throw medicine just to see the
next patient to speed up the process. The doctor is not the only one to blame; it also is the
patients responsibility to take care of their healthcare. In a culture with the attitude of I want it
now, people jeopardize their health in order to have the pain, the anxiety, and etcetera just to go
away quickly. The enormous amount of people using opioids as a long-term pain solution is a red
flag that the drug is being mismanaged or rather it is not being used correctly (Thomas 2014).
Through peoples need of instant gratification, their bodies become addicted to the medicine they
were prescribed.
When thinking about addiction, sometimes people forget about the drugs that are
prescribed them, but the patients bodies become codependent on the drugs they take. The
website realtruth.org states that [t]ragically, millions upon millions do not realize that there are
certain risks in taking prescription drugs; these can include weakened immune systems and
sometimes addiction. Society sometimes does not see or want to see the mishandling of a drug
that is legal. Many people never allow their bodies to adapt to fight viruses on their own, handle

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simple pains, or even to adjust to the stress of daily life. There is a misuse of these drugs that
endangers patients. Adult use of antidepressants nearly tripled during the periods of 1988-1994
and 1999-2000. For example, as of December 2004, 10% of adult women were taking
antidepressants. Undoubtedly, patients are not the only ones to blame for their addiction.
Pharmaceutical companies have a huge part to play in societys dependence on medication.
Money is the biggest player at fault for societys dependence to medication;
pharmaceutical companies undoubtedly are at fault. John Palfreman (2003, para. 1) states that,
a 150 billion dollar industry, dedicated to the search for new life-saving medicines that
somehow has managed to end up being compared with big tobacco. It seems that, like in any
business, profit is the most important thing; pharmaceutical companies do not stray from that
motto. The public is the one that is being harmed. The unethical marketing practice, of having
people overuse medicine is killing people. If one were to sit and watch television, they would be
bombarded with countless medicinal advertisements. These companies have spent millions on
advertisements to entice consumers and it is scary. Medicine is being advertised like cars or
movies. Not only are patients being mislead by the propaganda, the pharmaceutical companies
are also misleading doctors. In An Industry Under Fire Jon Palferman argues about unethical
marketing to consumers and doctors. This raises an important question, should it really be the
job of the drug companies to educate patients or should that be left to their doctors? It also leads
to what if, patients and doctors are persuaded to make unnecessarily expensive purchases then
valuable medical resources will be wasted. They are marketing medicine to help people but at
the cost and the wellbeing of consumers and the credibility of doctors.
Consequently, people have created a pill culture. It is the unnecessary over-medication
that consumers choose to live in but as well doctors may assist in this choose as well. As people

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take their medicine, they may develop an addiction or codependency. Pharmaceutical companies
aid people with their destruction by pushing every medication that is legal and profitable. Due to
their availability, peoples codependence, and companies not caring about their consumers
wellbeing has lead to a society that is dependent on prescription drugs.

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Works Cited
"Medicated! Society's Dependence on Prescription Drugs." Medicated! Society's Dependence
on Prescription Drugs. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2015. <http://realtruth.org/articles/448msdopd.html>.
Palfreman, Jon. "An Industry Under Fire." PBS. PBS, 19 June 2003. Web. 18 Feb. 2015.
<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/other/themes/underfire.html>.
"Prescription Drug Overdose in the United States: Fact Sheet." Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 09 Feb. 2015. Web. 11 Feb.
2015. <http://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/overdose/facts.html>.
Thomas, Katie. "Patients Prescribed Narcotic Painkillers Use More of Them for Longer, Study
Finds." The New York Times. The New York Times, 08 Dec. 2014. Web. 18 Feb. 2015.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/09/business/patients-prescribed-narcoticpainkillers-use-more-of-them-for-longer-study-finds.html?_r=0>.

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