Medical Essay

As the human race advances and generates new and more efficient medicine, society generates the perception that science has the answer to our problems. A requirement for a doctor in the 21st century, is to become expertly acquainted with the scientific world, meaning, doctors know the most cutting edged science. If doctors know science, and science has the answer, the most obvious correlation would be that doctors know the answer. However, in America, this is no longer always true as doctors overprescribe pills and other medications to patients who don’t need it.This is primarily due to the consumerist culture present in America that makes society susceptible to pharmaceutical media and leads patients to the conclusion that the answer is always in a pill. Regardless of the potentially harmful side-effects, hundreds of doctors in America are driven to overprescribe medication due to hyper-consumerism, scientific progress and efficiency in the search for a quick-fix. Overprescription, although very prevalent, is rarely seen in the media due to the powerful pharmaceutical, capitalist machines working in accordance with the medical industry to create and promote a strong consumerist culture in America. Its very unusual nowadays to watch television advertisements and not encounter an ad about a new, more effective, cheaper drug thats readily accessible at the nearest pharmacy. On The Huffington Post, David from GypsyNesters writes, “From what I can, tell those of us who watch the evening news are really, really sick. We need lots of drugs for our blood pressure, erectile dysfunction, depression, asthma, more erectile dysfunction, hair loss, blood clots etc,” (David). These advertisements put direct pressure on western society to go out and buy these medications regardless of natural, holistic remedies. In a 2011 advertisement for the sleep aid Lunesta, the audience is shown a few troubled, sleepless characters being cured by a relaxing, luminescent, green butterfly.