It Doesn't Pay to Cure - The $286.5 Billion Pharmaceutical Industry

Yep that’s right…last year the U.S. spent $286.5 Billion on prescription drugs.  Antidepressants ranked as the leading therapy class by dispensed prescription volume in 2007.  Overall, the top five therapeutic categories — antidepressants, lipid regulators, codeine & combination pain medications, ace inhibitors and beta blockers — continued to lead the market in terms of prescription utilization^[1].  Although there was a market slowdown from 2006 to 2007, the volume of prescription drugs on the market grew.  The slowdown was directly related to the expiration of patents that now allows for generic brands to be created;  which,in turn, makes drugs more affordable to consumers thereby increasing consumption.

Many people make the assumption that as our technology and knowledge grow, the quality of health care improves.  What they fail to realize is that the Western Medicine industry is fueled by treatment, not by cures.  $286.5 billion was spent on prescription drugs last year; if doctors actually cured people of their illnesses, there would be less doctor visits - less money in there pockets.  That $286 billion figure would significantly diminish.  Think of how many people over the age of 40 are taking drugs to regulate their lipids, cholesterol, neuro chemicals, etc.  Some of these people are swallowing pills daily just to maintain a certain lifestyle.  This is all due to our medical practices here in the U.S.  A doctor will see you have high blood pressure test results, and right away they will prescribe you Norvasc or some similar drug.  Sure they will mention change of diet, exercise, etc., but they will not stress the importance of these lifestyle changes.  Nor will they mention that with significant change in lifestyle, the average person can defeat high blood pressure without the aid of prescription drugs.  The world spends about $8 billion to $10 billion on treatment of aids patients^[2].  Think what a cure would do to that figure.  It sounds ludicrous and inhumane, but the fact remains that the health care industry is not a non-profit industry.  Therefore we must take this into consideration when analyzing treatments and recommendations that our doctors give us to “improve” our health.

And so the question comes, “If I can just take a pill, why not just do it?”  If it was that simple, I’d agree to it too.  But putting a band-aid over a wound doesn’t just heal it.  If you continue to live a lifestyle that brought on the high blood pressure in the first place, then it’s clear there is something unhealthy about those habits.  And even though prescription drugs can help correct your blood pressure, there are side effects that must be taken into consideration.  Let’s take a look at Norvasc for example:   Norvasc side effects include water retention, fatigue, and dizziness. There are also rare Norvasc side effects, which affect less than 1 percent of people taking the drug; these rare side effects may include loss of appetite, vomiting, and sexual problems^[3].  In order to correct a lifestyle issue, a person must run the risk of experiencing these side effects to solve the problem; cause more problems by trying to artificially solve another.  Norvasc  has rare occurrences of mild side effects.  There are drugs out there that cause more common, serious side effects.

In addition to physical ailments like high blood pressure, there are now a whole slew of prescription drugs that are prescribed to treat mental illnesses.  Think about how many friends or family members that are on anti-depressants or stimulant drugs to treat A.D.D./A.D.H.D.  I’m sure the list is long.  Until the 1950’s, there were no drugs that were administered  to patients diagnosed with these types of mental illnesses.  Now that drugs exist, often times people with “mental illnesses” are prescribed a drug after an initial assessment before therapy sessions even begin.  Well guess what?? Just as diet and lifestyle can affect your physical wellness, it can also affect your mental wellness.  Vitamin and supplement levels in your blood regulate hormone and neurotransmitter levels.  Want a simple example??  The sun gives us Vitamin D and it’s been shown in studies that vitamin D3 deficiency provides a compelling and parsimonious explanation for seasonal variations in mood^[4].  It’s not necessary to take Zolof or Prozac if you are a little down in the dumps…take a vacation, get some sun; or move somewhere sunny!!  Obviously this is a simplified and exaggerated example of this, but you get my point.

This brings me to the cure.  How do we cure our illnesses rather than just treat them as the Western Medicine practice wants from us?  Well clearly I’ve mentioned change in diet and lifestyle, but it goes above and beyond that.  There are certain ailments that exist in this world that our bodies cannot defeat without the help of medicine.  But instead of looking to the medicine cabinet for a pill, perhaps we should be looking more into the Earth.  Eastern Medicine practices focus on natural, herbal medicines that have been used for thousands of years by humans to heal.  Furthermore, there are also sciences, such as acupuncture, that also gives us alternate methods of healing.  I have horrible allergies, and although taking Allegra-D twice a day helps control them, the fact is, they still remain in me.  After studying Eastern Medicine practices for curing allergies, I found a couple things for me to try: 

• A teaspoon of locally harvested honey from bees can help my body build up antibodies to significantly reduce my seasonal allergic reactions.  
• By lowering my consumption of mucous forming products (i.e. milk, flour, cheese), I can significantly improve the clogging and build-up of mucous in my sinuses

I am not sitting here and preaching to you that Eastern Medicine is the only way to go.  There are pros and cons for arguments of both Western and Eastern Medical practices.  The intelligent human would not pick one or the other, but instead recognize the positives from both and utilize them in conjunction with each other to maximize your well-being.  Through technology, Western Medicine has created a means of analysis that can accurately report any given individual’s unique physiological makeup and what supplements and dietary changes can be integrated to maximize their wellness.  If you were to take this property of Western Medical practice and combine it with the knowledge of natural medicines/supplements, once could cure thousands of ailments that plague humans around the world. 

One individual, Dr. Ray Kurzweil, has written a book called, Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever.  In it he explains how the advancement of technology and medical knowledge will one day prolong human life - perhaps indefinitely.  With the Bio-Tech Revolution followed by the Nano-Tech Revolution approaching in our near futures, humans will be able to harness technology to help create synthetic organic cells that will lack deformities or inefficiencies that end up causing ailments and early death.  His website, http://www.rayandterry.com, provides a portal to knowledge and the ability to purchase products that will help sustain longer life and health.

So the next time you are sick and want to go to the doctor to get better…think about this blog.  There is no money to made in curing patients.  Doctors get rich by seeing patients.  Doctors get “perks” for endorsing certain prescription drugs.  So your health and wellness are not the only factors that plays into doctors’ recommendations. 

It doesn’t pay to cure.

Comments

[Michelle]

Thank you!