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Nevin Rodriguez
English 1301
11/21
Prescription America
Prescription drugs are being over-prescribed in America, and it seems to continue with
harsh consequences. Unfortunately, the consequences being implicated are caused by the doctors
who are endorsed by major drug companies, effecting the patients of such doctors the most.
Prescription drugs is the fastest growing drug problem in America nationwide (Antidepressant
Drugs 1). Physicians who are looking for more endorsements by such drug companies are not
slowing down the epidemic either, rather they are provoking the problem even more than it needs
to be. Though you would think the consequences should be against the doctors who are wrongly
prescribing such medication without cause, the only people actually being effected negatively are
the patients who are being prescribed such medication that leads into addiction and dependency
for the drugs. More than half of the parents in America, sixty-eight percent, believe that antidepressant drugs (SSRIs) are being over-prescribed to their children and the youth as a whole.
Furthermore, there have been doctors who more than not prescribe SSRIs to the youth who
merely show signs of adolescence, and no signs of abnormalities. This information backs the
idea that prescription drugs are being over-prescribed in America (Antidepressant Drugs 1).
Psychiatrists who are payed by the drug companies generally prescribe three times the
amount of prescriptions than doctors who did not receive any fund from them. Therefore,
motivating doctors nationwide to prescribe more medications than may be needed. The younger
the patient is, the more likely the patient is to be addicted to the drug long term. Many physicians
may be the cause of such addictions and the drug surplus in America, recognizing and including

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the influence the drug companies have over the amount of prescription drugs being distributed.
The influence of the drug companies to pay the psychiatrists is solely to reap what they sow, to
increase product command, therefore increasing sales. Will there be a line drawn to what money
should actually influence (Psychiatry)?
The long term effects of being prescribed drugs that you may not need may lead to
dependency, and/or addiction, on the particular drug. Doctors who are prescribing these drugs are
also prescribing blindly which creates a patient who did not need the drug in the first place
become dependent. Such drugs like SSRIs being prescribed attach themselves onto the brains
naturally produced opioids, which are what stimulates us and makes us essentially happy, and
creating a super effect which makes the opioids felt more prominently. The only bad thing about
such drugs is that once they attach themselves to the brains naturally occurring opioids, it is hard
to naturally reproduce the same opioids. Which causes the dependency for the same drug that
stimulated the naturally occurring opioids, resulting in addiction. Many drugs that are being
massively prescribe have this effect on the patients who take the drug, making them fen for more
(Shepherd 1).
The abuse of prescription drugs has increased significantly, with the number of
Americas who report abusing controlled prescription drugs more than doubling from 7.8 million
to 16.3 million from 1992 to 2006 (Fisher 695). More than doubling the number of Americans
addicted to prescription drugs, one has to wonder why. It begins at a young age from some
people, being prescribed such medication that was not needed before, as I mentioned earlier,
more than half of the parents agree their kids are falsely being prescribed antidepressant drugs, or
SSRIs. Continuance of such drugs lead to a physical dependency, creating a need for a drug
when there was no need for the drug in the first place. This destroys naturally produced opioids.

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Effects of prescription opioids are similar to those seen with the larger class of opioid drugs
(e.g., heroin) and include analgesia, drowsiness, euphoria, constipation, pupil constriction,
clouding of mental function, and depression of the central nervous system and of cardiac activity
at high doses (Fisher 696). Also, children of young ages who are prescribed medication that
stimulate artificially produced opioids, usually end up needing a higher dosage and more to get
the same opioid effect that it used to provide. With repeated use of any opioid, physiological
tolerance may develop. Tolerance is typically identified by diminished sensitivity to the drug. For
example, it eventually takes a larger amount of the drug to achieve the same effects that were
experienced early on (Fisher 696). With such information in mind, one can now predict that
canceling the continuance of such drug is difficult, especially when the drug has been in
continuance use form early years. Once an individual becomes physically dependent on opioids,
withdrawal will likely occur following a period of drug abstinence (Fisher 696). Indicating that
children who are prescribed such medication at a young age have a harder time to not use such a
drug.
Since doctors are allowed to take payments from drug companies to endorse their
products, the doctors patients should be allowed and advised such information before being
prescribed a medication. A doctor being endorsed by a drug company may cloud their judgement
on who they should truly prescribe the medication to, leading to mass amounts of overprescription drugs nation wide in America. If more patients knew that the drugs they are being
prescribed did not actually needed to be prescribed to them, then less patients would spend their
money on such drugs. However, such information is not being disclosed with patients,
misleading their need to take such prescribed drugs. The only consequence for advising patients
about such endorsements, is that less patients would be buying into the prescription drugs which

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in turn leads to less income for the drug companies. Less prescriptions leads to less patients who
buy the drug, which in turn leads to less addictive behavior and dependency for the drugs they
are being prescribed (Physician Endorsement of Pharmaceuticals).

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Works Cited

Antidepressant Drugs. Issues & Controversies. Infobase Learning, 22 July 2005. Web.
21 Nov. 2016. <http://icof.infobaselearning.com/recordurl.aspx?ID=2376>.

Psychiatry. Issues & Controversies. Infobase Learning, 8 Aug. 2008. Web. 21 Nov.
2016. <http://icof.infobaselearning.com/recordurl.aspx?ID=2366>.

Physician Endorsement of Pharmaceuticals. Issues & Controversies. Infobase Learning,

23 May 2011. Web. 21 Nov. 2016. <http://icof.infobaselearning.com/recordurl.aspx?ID=2361>.

aplan, Jason P., et al. "Neuropsychiatric Effects of Prescription Drug Abuse."

Neuropsychology review 17.3 (2007): 363-80. ProQuest. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.

Shepherd, Joanna. "Combating the Prescription Painkiller Epidemic: A National

Prescription Drug Reporting Program." American Journal of Law and Medicine 40.1 (2014): 85112. ProQuest. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.

Sigmon, Stacey C. "Prescription Drugs." Encyclopedia of Substance Abuse Prevention,

Treatment, & Recovery, edited by Gary L. Fisher and Nancy A. Roget, vol. 2, SAGE
Publications, 2009, pp. 695-698. Gale Virtual Reference Library, ezp.tccd.edu/login?

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url=http://go.galegroup.com.ezp.tccd.edu/ps/i.do?
p=GVRL&sw=w&u=txshracd2560&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE
%7CCX3074600253&sid=exlibris&asid=56952c228162c24bbbf4ea4583321917. Accessed 4
Dec. 2016.

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