America’s Prescription Drug Abuse Epidemic: “Quick-Fix” Mentality

Americans use a lot of prescription drugs.  Are we different from other countries?  Is it human nature, our nature, or are we lab rats being conditioned to immediately turn to a drug for anything that troubles us?  It is past time to look at these questions and see what can be done to reverse the effect of our “quick-fix” mentality.

The expenditures on prescription drugs in the United States is 600% greater than the next closest country (compared to Germany, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand and Canada) according to an independent research study by The Commonwealth Fund and published in their report, “Issues in International Health Policy.”

This problem is huge and taking a toll.  For example, the manufacture and sale of pain medications sold to pharmacies, hospitals and doctors increased by 300% from 1999 to 2008. And, there has been an almost parallel 300% increase in overdose deaths – primarily caused by pain meds – during that same period.  The “costs” don’t stop there, however. For every one overdose death

• 10 people are admitted into treatment
• 32 people receive care at an ER for their abuse or misuse
• 130 people are considered abusers or are dependent
• 825 people use prescription drugs non-medically* – without the recommendation of a doctor
• In 2011, there were 6,400 people EVERY DAY in the U.S. who used a prescription drug — non-medically — for the first time.

The magnitude of this picture, this high rate of abuse, has driven the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to classify prescription drug abuse as an epidemic in the United States.

Perhaps the law of human nature is to “take the easy way out,” but have Americans made a lifestyle out of this mode of operation?  In contrast to the other countries in the Commonwealth Fund study, America is a youngster who, in a very short period of time, rose to world leader status.  We are a nation of Type-A personalities.  We work hard, fast and expediently.  In our hurry, we look for the quickest method to an end.

Unfortunately, what may have started as a survival approach has been reinforced; moving fast and demanding quick solutions seems to have become an American lifestyle milieu. We don’t take the time for thoughtful analysis, planning or problem-solving.  We don’t expend the time or apply the discipline needed for long-term change and paradigm-straightening.  This manner of dealing with the world may be at the core of our prescription drug abuse problem.

This mode of operation has not going unnoticed by marketing gurus. Advertisers study their markets in order to craft their appeals and, depending upon their skill and budgets, they also influence and drive these markets.    Not sure which comes first, but the outcomes are the same.  If America is a quick-fix society, it is interesting to note that according to the Nielson Company, a leading global information and measurement company, the pharmaceutical industry is number three on list of expenditures for advertising — just behind the fast food industry.

Advertisers know that consumers in today’s American lifestyle claim to “have no time.”  We lament about working harder and longer, taking care of our kids and aging parents, and, as result of advanced technology, being stressed out by “information overload.” We have no time to be sick, no time to be incapacitated by discomfort of any kind (headache, exhaustion, muscle strain, etc.) and definitely no time to get at the root of an issue and make changes for the long-haul.

We say we want a cure, but demand our medical providers give us immediate relief from our symptoms. The advertisers know this.  They also know that there are a lot of pharmaceuticals from which to choose and that one of the most direct routes for a specific drug to be written on a prescription pad is to have the consumer request it.

So what about our providers?  Should they be reducing the number or frequency of prescriptions they write?  An unnamed primary care physician describing the time constraints of his job said, “It’s only 9:30 am and I have 17 more patients scheduled before lunch. And I’m already over an hour behind schedule.”  When do these practitioners have time to do patient contemplation, documentation, receive continuing education or stay current on medical and pharmaceutical research and best practices?    “I’ll admit,” shared the doctor, “that sometimes when a patient suggests trying a certain drug, I take the path of least resistance determined against the potential of that drug to do harm.”

This combination of entities and circumstances — the patient, the practitioner and the pharmaceutical market — creates a  perfect storm for a quick-fix next time a patient comes to her doctor with an ailment AND a possible cure that she heard about in an advertiser’s suggestive message on TV.

Workplaces can have a powerful role in stabilizing or even reversing the quick-fix approach that has contributed to America’s trouble with prescription drugs.  After all, employers have a vested interest in the situation as they bear a great portion of the costs that result from prescription drug abuse, e.g., healthcare costs and losses in productivity. (see Rx Drug Abuse Tugs at the Employer’s Purse Strings)

We know that the workplace is the single greatest portal to reach adults.  And these adults are the buying public.  They are parents who model and can teach their children a different way.  They can demand accountability from the systems (e.g., medical community, pharmaceutical industry).  But, this mass of adults needs the information and the skills to make an impact.  AND because they are Americans, the information has to be relatively easy and quick to understand and apply.

Employers, be a change agent!  How about if we teach our workforces a 5-point strategy to be more critical and responsible consumers of the total healthcare system and in particular, prescription drugs?

Teach them to

1. Talk to their medical professionals to gain an understanding of the causes of the ailment, get alternative treatment options besides drugs, and qualify information about drugs being prescribed.
2. Talk to their pharmacist to learn the safe practices for taking what has been prescribed and whether there are ways to save money, i.e., generic versions.
3. Use medication as directed with a greater understanding of the efficacy of their medications such as knowing how and when to take them, or what to do if a dose is missed.
4. Avoid sharing – on purpose or accidentally — given the fact that sharing a controlled substance is punishable under federal law.  It can also be dangerous for someone to take a drug that was not prescribed for them.  Furthermore, about how a laissez-faire mentality about the storage of drugs can inadvertently give others the opportunity to get their hands on a prescription drug that could endanger them.
5. Properly dispose of drugs so as not to be tempted to use leftover medication inappropriately, run the risk of someone else accessing them illegally or inadvertently contaminating disposal systems.

With repeated, consistent and conscious application, these five steps could become a vital element in the continual improvement process of the American healthcare system.   All parties could be more responsibly engaged in critically consuming healthcare services and appropriately applying prescription drugs.

The 5-point strategy above was developed in collaboration with the Cardinal Health Foundation for the “A Dose of Reality” employee education course. This course can be accessed by visiting www.GenerationRxWorkplace.com.