Why are todays' prescription drugs so bad for you?

[Oldschoolguy]

I am only 56 years old and I can still remember when if you needed something for pain they (doctors) gave you a pain pill. If you were nervous you got a nerve pill. If you couldn't sleep you got a sleeping pill, if you had a cough you got cough medicine, etc.

Now, they give drugs made for one thing to treat something sometimes unrelated to the symptoms you have. If you see the drug ads on TV they even tell you all the myriad of horrible side affects the drug may induce.

When I go to the doctor, which is infrequently, if I am given medicines I always go home and research them before I even consider taking them. If the side effects are too scary I either don't take or I call and ask for something else.

So, is it me or are these new drugs way more complicated and dangerous than what was on the market back in the day?

[along-for-the-ride]

I think there have always been possible side-effects to certain drugs. We have just been made more aware of them--in your face--on these commercials. Lets' say a person wants to use Chantex to quite smoking, but when you listen to the possible side-effects, you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.



Doctors should always consult with you as an individual patient before prescribing a new medication for you.

I also don't take any medication unless I really need it which isn't often. I guess I've been lucky so far.

[Snooz]

I try to research natural/herbal remedies first. I was on sythroid for my thyroid and then switched over to dessicated pork thyroid and I feel much better.

[K.Snyder]

Oldschoolguy;1409779 wrote: I am only 56 years old and I can still remember when if you needed something for pain they (doctors) gave you a pain pill. If you were nervous you got a nerve pill. If you couldn't sleep you got a sleeping pill, if you had a cough you got cough medicine, etc.

Now, they give drugs made for one thing to treat something sometimes unrelated to the symptoms you have. If you see the drug ads on TV they even tell you all the myriad of horrible side affects the drug may induce.

When I go to the doctor, which is infrequently, if I am given medicines I always go home and research them before I even consider taking them. If the side effects are too scary I either don't take or I call and ask for something else.

So, is it me or are these new drugs way more complicated and dangerous than what was on the market back in the day?"back in the day" as in when?



In 1937, S.E. Massengill Co....tested the new product, Elixir Sulfanilamide, for flavor, appearance and fragrance. At the time, the food and drug laws did not require toxicological analysis before releasing for sale. When 105 people died in 15 states during the months of September and October, the trail led back to the elixir, and the toxic potential of this chemical was revealed. This episode was the impetus for the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938. This law, though extensively amended in subsequent years, remains the central foundation of FDA regulatory authority to the present day.


Diethylene glycol is used in the manufacture of unsaturated polyester resins, polyurethanes, and plasticizers. ... It is a solvent for nitrocellulose, resins, dyes, oils, and other organic compounds. It is a humectant for tobacco, cork, printing ink, and glue. It is also a component in brake fluid, lubricants, wallpaper strippers, artificial fog solutions, and heating/cooking fuel. In personal care products (e.g. skin cream and lotions, deodorants), DEG is often replaced by selected diethylene glycol ethers. A dilute solution of diethylene glycol can also be used as a coolant; however, ethylene glycol is much more commonly used. Most ethylene glycol antifreeze contains a few percent diethylene glycol, present as an inadvertent byproduct of ethylene glycol production. Diethylene glycol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Or perhaps Tuskegee syphilis experiment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

What we have is a society mainly focused on money which includes our health institutions. What you're seeing is capitalism at its best and the only means to slow it are government intervention or a complete change in our cultural values.

A better question, I think, is why do you think medicine and health treatment in our society is so immensely expensive? Don't you think healing our fellow citizens is one of the top two priorities we as a civilized society are obligated to extend, without question and without a need for profit? You have the same question as I do, I just think mine is framed better.

[Oldschoolguy]

You know, way back in the 60's. LOL

I always try the natural remedies myself first as I am hardly ever sick.

But I have been prescribed a few new drugs recently that were just horrible.

[Oldschoolguy]

K.Snyder;1409788 wrote: "back in the day" as in when?





Diethylene glycol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Or perhaps Tuskegee syphilis experiment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

What we have is a society mainly focused on money which includes our health institutions. What you're seeing is capitalism at its best and the only means to slow it are government intervention or a complete change in our cultural values.

A better question, I think, is why do you think medicine and health treatment in our society is so immensely expensive? Don't you think healing our fellow citizens is one of the top two priorities we as a civilized society are obligated to extend, without question and without a need for profit? You have the same question as I do, I just think mine is framed better.


I agree.

[K.Snyder]

Oldschoolguy;1409790 wrote: I agree.The division of labor extends itself through every institution in this country, even our hospitals. It's sick

[flopstock]

I think drugs have always had side affects. The difference is that nowadays, the drug companies get sued for not disclosing those side affects in advance.