The Over-medication of America

I have a good friend – one of the few people I met in college with who I keep in touch. We are pretty much diametrically opposed in out political views, but oddly enough, are aligned when it comes to the belief people are too accepting of what doctors say. We both hold the thought that each of us is the final arbiter of their own health care decisions. One day I asked him how his parents were doing and he related a story to me to which illustrates the point.

His mother – now in her eighties – had always been in generally good health. However, upon a visit to her doctor, she discovered her blood pressure was slightly elevated. Not, mind you, “Oh my God you are a stroke waiting to happen” elevated – just slightly elevated. So,as doctors are often want to do, her doctor prescribed some medication. Now he could have talked to her about altering her diet, etc. and keeping an eye on the situation, but because (and this will come into play later) many doctors have attitudes about older folks, he assumed she wouldn't be able to do that. After a few weeks on the medication her blood pressure was down, but (let me do my Gomer Pyle impression – Soo-prise, Soo-prise, Soo-prise) she was experiencing some side effects.
So back to the doctor. Instead of taking her off the blood pressure medication (remember her pressure was only slightly elevated) or looking at alternative medication ( there are many for blood pressure control) he prescribed more pills for the side effects.

I'm sure you can guess where this is going. More pills for the side effects of those pills, and more pills for the side effects of those pills. Pretty soon the poor woman was taking about fifteen pills a day and feeling worse than she ever had. Her balance was bad and she was having problems with her memory. So back to the doctor and the kind, caring, conscientious physician (yeah right) informed her family that she was in the initial stages of dementia and/or Alzheimer's and the best thing to do was to institutionalize her - find a nursing home that deals with that kind of thing. Of course the fact that she was an octogenarian played a huge factor in the doctor's diagnosis and recommendations.

My friend was unaware of all of this until his father called him to discuss putting his mother in a home. My friend was obviously perplexed and concerned. In the course of only a couple of months his mother had gone from a vital, aware woman to someone who could barely stand and couldn't remember what she had for breakfast. So my friend talked to his mother's physician who not only defended his prescribing of all the medications, but got very defensive about the fact a mere layman would even question his judgment. No help there.

My friend finally found an extension of the Cleveland Clinic in Orlando (where his parents lived) and a doctor who was willing to listen. After consultation and review of the medications he advised that they take her off of all her medications to start. Within three weeks his mother was back to her old self.

This scenario plays itself out many thousands of times every year in this country. In a lot of respects Medicare part D enables it to happen even more. So often doctors treat the symptoms without even looking at the underlying cause. Sometimes this is enough – often it is not.

There is so much more to go into about this “epidemic” (irony definitely intended), but it isn't actually the point of this opinion piece. Instead it is the parallel with our economy.

Our economy has been over-medicated. The government is forcing the American taxpayers to take more and more medication and, like doctors, our elected representatives get defensive and don't look to find the underlying causes. Instead they choose to treat the symptoms. Looking at controlling the disease instead of curing the patient. In many ways they possess the same hubris as the doctors who are unwilling to look at alternatives. They believe there is no way the people who are paying the bills can possibly understand the malady. They believe they have to do something because the patient (the economy) can't heal itself.

Two quotes come to mind. The first from the Hippocratic Oath - “First, do no harm”. The second is from one of my favorites, Voltaire. He said, “The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while Nature cures the disease.”

I don't think most of those in office ever read Voltaire – pity.