#overmedicating

Too many preschoolers with ADHD are being put on drugs before behavior therapy is tried, health officials say. The CDC reported that three in four young kids diagnosed ADHD are prescribed medicines, despite research showing behavioral therapy is effective and safer…. Newsmax Health – Health NewsCDC: Americans Overmedicating Preschoolers With ADHD

R. Leigh Coleman, Christian Post, Jun. 01, 2011 Nearly 50 percent of all U.S. households swallow, inject, inhale, infuse, spray, and pat on prescribed medication every month and the nation buys more medicine per person than any other country, according to a report this week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There are many cases where the use of prescription drugs is absolutely necessary, and helps improve lives. But there are also many cases, too many cases, where drugs are overprescribed, unnecessary, and harmful.

John Abramson, author of Overdosed America, said lifestyle changes and not pills in a bottle could solve many health problems.

He said doctors and the pharmaceutical companies share the blame.

"We rely too heavily on prescriptions drugs in the U.S.," Abramson said.

"Just because a pill is new does not mean it is better. New just means it was approved by the FDA and they are able to sell on the open market."

Abramson boldly states Americans are overmedicated and overmedicalized as a result of the commercialization of health care and easily fall prey to marketing campaigns.

"We demand unnecessary and expensive drugs and procedures, believing they constitute the best possible medical care," he said. "Wrong. More care doesn't necessarily mean better care."

He argues that doctors should focus more on lifestyle changes to improve health.

"American medicine has gone badly astray and we need one untainted by profits," Abramson said.

It has been reported that the pharmaceutical industry served up more than $250 billion worth of sales last year, the vast majority in prescriptions, according to industry consultants. That roughly equaled sales at all the country's gasoline stations put together, or an $850 pharmaceutical fill-up for every American.