How big is the risk associated with medication use? According to a startling report released in the summer of 2006 by the Institute of medicine, at least 1.5 million patients are injured each year by medication errors. How big is the risk associated with medication use? According to a startling report released in the summer of 2006 by the Institute of medicine, at least 1.5 million patients are injured each year by medication errors. And what about the fatality rate? The groundbreaking 2003 medical report Death by Medicine, by Drs. Gary Null, Carolyn Dean, Martin Feldman, Debora Rasio and Dorothy Smith discovered that 783,936 people in the United States die every year from conventional medicine mistakes. That’s the equivalent of six jumbo jet crashes a day for an entire year.
The problem is, prescription drugs don’t treat diseases; they merely cover the symptoms. U.S. physicians provide allopathic health care – that is, they care for disease, not health. So, the over-prescription of drugs and medications is designed to treat disease instead of preventing it. And because there are so many drugs available, unforeseen adverse drug reactions are all too common, which leads to the highly conservative annual prescription drug death rate of 106,000.
Through chiropractic care many of our patients at Georgia Clinic of Chiropractic (Augusta, GA) have been able to eliminate their need for prescription medication, or lesson their dosage for the treatment of medical conditions such as headaches, fibromyalgia and low back pain.
A recent report from the National Center for Health Statistics reveals some unsettling patterns from the increasing use of prescription drugs from 1999 to 2008. Among people older than 60, the researchers found, about 88 percent were using at least one medicine, and more than one-third were taking five or more. “People may be taking too many drugs — that’s a big concern in the older age groups,” said Dr. Qiuping Gu, the epidemiologist who led the research. “When you see such a big percentage taking five or more drugs, side effects and safety become very serious issues.” Almost 45 percent of people over 60 now take cholesterol-lowering prescription medicine, more than twice the rate in 1999. Even among children under 12, more than 22 percent were using at least one prescription drug (most commonly for asthma), and so were almost 30 percent of teenagers. The report also cited data finding that spending on prescription drugs more than doubled over the decade, even after accounting for inflation. In constant dollars, Americans spent more than $234 billion on prescription drugs in 2008, up from $104.6 billion in 1999.
But not all doctors subscribe to this method of “treatment.” In fact, many doctors are just as angry as the public should be, charging that scientific medicine is “for sale” to the highest bidder – which, more often than not, end up being pharmaceutical companies. The pharmaceutical industry is a multi-trillion dollar business. Companies spend billions on advertising and promotions for prescription drugs. And exactly how far does their reach go? “Death by Medicine” cites an ABC report that says clinical trials funded by pharmaceutical companies show a 90 percent chance that a drug will be perceived as effective, whereas clinical trials not funded by drug companies show only a 50 percent chance that a drug will be perceived as effective.
If you are currently taking prescription medication, or know someone that does, and would like to get a second opinion if alternative, drug-free treatments such as chiropractic may be beneficial for you, you can schedule a complimentary consultation at Georgia Clinic of Chiropractic. Many of our patients have said they wish they had considered other alternatives a lot sooner–if not for the sake of their health but for their bank account. Our complimentary consultations are an integral part of our patient experience here, and our goal is to make sure that you, not some other third-party company, remains in control of your healthcare.
Georgia Clinic of Chiropractic is conveniently located off Furys Ferry Rd in Martinez, Georgia and provides quality chiropractic care to the Augusta, Martinez, and Evans communities. Visit our main website at www.georgia-clinic.com. To schedule an appointment, call (706) 814-5053 or use our online form to schedule online.
The Georgia Clinic of Chiropractic Blog is written by Dr. Mark Huntsman.
