Here is a question that needs an answer.

[Mangee]

How do the pharmaceutical companies manage to put into the marketplace drugs that can kill you. As long as they advertise the side effects ,which in most cases can  cause something far worse than what you are taking the drug for, than they are legal. You are baking these drugs at your own risk and that risk is rarely explained to you. You can say to the doctor,"I don't want that drug, " and he replaces it with another that is just as bad. The doctor has no recourse but to use the medicines that are available because that is all there is. So, if these drugs are potentially dangerous, why are they being fed to us? Do these drugs actually need all the ingredients? Are these ingredients put there so that we will have to buy even more medicines to combat the side effects of each and every drug. I am at the moment taking a drug to combat the side effect of Simvastatin, a cholesterol drug because I was told I needed I it due to a possibly dangerous side effect. The drug I am taking, an over the counter drug, also has side effects. Where does it end? I was taking Simvastatin for several years before I found out from my doctor that there was a dangerous side effect and needed an extra drug to combat it. There is no doubt that my doctor himself just received the information himself or I would have heard of it before now. So that begs the question of, how much of the truth are we getting now and why did it have to be legislated before we learned any truth

[SusiRN]

I have been a nurse for 16 years and I am just sick of watching this same scenario over and over. One drug will inevitably lead to another. If there is a pill form I guarantee you there is a natural form, found in nature! There is too much money involved in pharma that's why they are on the market to make money they don't care that their drugs are harmful. Nature will ALWAYS provide a better way. Health requires a holistic approach too it's not just what you put in your mouth it's also what comes out of it. What you feed your brain and what comes out of it. Mind Body Spirit are connected and without the 3 there is no balance.

[dominosarah]

Look at the oxycontin.  They knew it was highly addictive but put it out there anyway.    The makers of oxycontin were slapped with a fine which im sure was just a tax write off for them anyways.  Its all a money game to the pharmaceutical companies and we are left holding the bag.        sara

[allaboutmary]

All good questions that I don't have answers to.  I think the country as a whole is over-medicated.  I think before taking any medication people need to seriously weigh the benefits against side effects. Sometimes it's just not an option, I mean you gotta take heart meds if you have heart problems and insulin if diabetic.  
My mom was doing perfectly fine on her insulin. Her doctor prescribed  NEW & IMPROVED stuff.  A few months later it was pulled from the market. We changed doctors and they are not allowed to change her meds without a darn good reason.....not just because they have new stuff for her to be a ginea pig with.