There’s poison in every potion

“I want to sell drugs to everyone. I want to sell drugs to healthy people. I want drugs to sell like chewing gum.”

Several sources report that Henry Gadsden, chief executive of the Merck Company, made this statement sometime in the late 1960s. Whether Mr. Gadsden actually said it is moot because the reality of legal drug use in the twenty-first century is actually about as common as chewing gum.

I recall a time when my mother was agitated by a dentist’s suggestion to give me an aspirin for a sore tooth. She didn’t seem happy about giving a drug to her son. Aspirin!

When I was in pharmacy school in the late 60s we were warned of a growing problem using medicines - “poly-pharmacy” - using several drugs simultaneously. At the time, our professors explained that the risk of a serious drug interaction was around 80% when a person used as many as three different drugs. The risk increased to almost 100% when the number climbed to five.

I worked at a public hospital in the 70s and a pharmacist was often assigned to review the records of patients who were admitted with more than 5 drugs. Being a public hospital, the patients’ drugs were paid for and the administrators wanted to be sure they weren’t paying unnecessarily. Of course, they were also concerned about the dangers of drug interactions.

Things have sure changed a lot. Today, it is not uncommon for a person to be taking far more than 5 drugs - and the number rises well above ten for people in their 60s. We clearly have a prescription drug problem, not only because kids are using their parents’ antidepressants, sleeping pills, and pain relievers.  It’s because we are all taking so many different drugs - often using one drug to compensate or mask the bad effects of another.

Yes, I am a registered pharmacist, but I object to the rampant unnecessary use of prescription drugs. My motto is, “Too many people take too many drugs” and I am passionate about doing what I can to stop and reverse this deadly trend.

As much as we would all prefer to have the medical community always do what’s in our personal best interest, we must realize that it is physically impossible for anyone to care as much about our health as we can ourselves. We may turn to health professionals for help, but the responsibility for good health and wise health choices rests solely in our own hands. Recall that old line about how pointing a finger at someone is actually pointing three back at yourself.  In like manner, it is unwise and unfair to blame others, to point fingers attempting to determine who’s at fault.

I plan to expand on this topic in future blog posts with examples and suggestions, and I pray that readers will begin to recognize the pitfalls of too many drugs and begin to make changes that will benefit their health without adding still another drug. Please don't hesitate to comment on any of my posts - especially when you disagree. Honest, polite disagreements are powerful learning tools.  Nasty retorts are just hurtful.

Let's keep in touch.