Discovering how harmfull most prescribed chemicles are how do you live with yourself?

bsveillon · May 7, 2011

The key to this whole discussion has already been stated quite well by a few different posters. I actually probably have no need to post, anything I say will probably be redundant.

All I can say is this, generations ago, before anyone knew about clinical depression or what causes such feelings of depression, Alchohol, usually in the form of very strong wine, was used to treat people who are suicidal. Even then, this alchohol was administered by a third party, to weigh things out, and make sure abuse did not develop.

We all know by now, ABUSE HAS DEVELOPED! Alchohol is a killer, it leads to hosts of health problems, it destroys relationships and kills innocent bystaders.

Let's fast forward to today's age. We now have antidepressants. We have narcotics. We have HOSTS of other medications.

We've all seen chemicals DESTROY peoples lives over the years in our respective careers. It's not the chemicals, as much as their abuse, misuse, misdosage, etc.

So, to answer your question, yes, there are times in our business there will be a moral conflict. We can, however, be part of the solution. There's a good part of healthcare and pharm, and there's a bad side. We live with ourselves because we are part of the constructive side.

There's work to be done in this area, but it's not ALL NEGATIVE.

Thanks,

talaxandra · May 7, 2011

As CourtneyLR pointed out, the number of people taking prescribed medication vastly, vastly outweighs the number of people taking illicit drugs - while the (outdated, poorly-researched) statistic you provide is frightening, prescription medications are safer by a magnitude. In fact, according to the National Institude on Drug Abuse

About 570,000 people die annually due to drug use. That breaks down to about 440,000 from disease related to tobacco, 85,000 due to alcohol, 20,000 due to illicit (illegal) drugs, and 20,000 due to prescription drug abuse. If you want more information, check out NIDA's site at www.drugabuse.gov (source)

So the same number of people die from illicit drugs and prescriptions drugs. In addition to practiioner error, that includes people deliberately misusing prescription meds (eg grinding up and injecting OxyContin, drug seeking from multiple providers), accidental misuse (eg taking a double dose by mistake, not following the directions), polypharmacy and drug interactions, interactions with non-prescription medications (eg concomittant use of anti-depressants and St John's wort), and seriously ill patients.

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · May 7, 2011

That's really nice of you to say considering that this post is part of a thinking process. Would have been nice if you had added something helpful but thanks for the dash of negativity to balance the scales.

I am concerned that you a third year nursing student and you just realized that prescription medicine is dangerous and toxic. That for every benefit there is always a risk.....for this reason alone is why nurses should take their responsibility very serious......that even life saving medicines given too incorrectly or too much can cause death.

https://allnurses.com/nursing-news/nurse-suicide-follows-556477.html

Take this summer to realize that nursing is a serious profession and we deal with life and death everyday....that even through our best efforts......the cure itself can be fatal.......

but for those we save....I feel truly blessed...... :nurse:

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · May 7, 2011

If you think my asking "how do you live with yourselves is rude and demeaning then you did not read my post correctly. The prerequisite for that question was clearly "Discovering how harmful most prescribed chemicals are..."
Please let put your egos away before responding to this post people! I am obviously not attacking you but posing a question for you to pretend to answer....from my perspective. So far only 2 commenter's saw that. There is no reason to become offended unless you have feelings buried...dig them up!

of course prescription drugs are dangerous chemicals...that is why they are "prescribed" and not over the counter....but even they are toxic. Medicine has never proclaimed to be "whollistic" or "chemical free"......as a third year nursing student graduationg in 1 year should have had many pharm classes to have had this information already.........and your source is of rather....dubious credibility.

It is a delicate balance......we only hope to do our best..

Heidi the nurse, BSN, RN · May 7, 2011

OP, as a nursing student you're hopefully taught to maintain a healthy level of skepticism and know where your statistics are coming from.
The 130,000 number you quote isn't from a peer reviewed research article as many posters are assuming. It's from a subscription-based newsletter published by Dr. Julian Whitaker. I'll stop short of calling him a "dubious character" and suggest you research him and draw your own conclusion.

Or put another way (my favorite quote), there are liars, damn liars, and statisticians :)

As a school nurse, there is quite a bit about medication that bothers me. I really don't like seeing children diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I worked in psych back in the 90's when ADHD and Ritalin were on everyone's mind. I can tell you I saw just one child who's behavior improved dramatically. But not so much with the others.

Later when I became a parent, my oldest (who is now 14) had some behavioral problems as an 8 year old. I talked to my pediatrician about it - I was not happy with the idea that he might need to be medicated. My MD said to me - unmedicated kids with ADHD tend to get into car accidents and die. That was all it took - I signed right up to have him tested. Turned out he didn't meet the criteria. but if he had and I had decided to not medicate him and something happened?

Lastly, because I have been doing school nursing for the last 6 years, I am smack dab in the middle of the vaccines cause autism debate. Now I firmly believe that vaccines don't cause autism. but still there is a tiny nagging voice in the back of my head saying "what if?" But then again do I want to deal with polio or measles or even chicken pox? Nope.

llg, PhD, RN · May 7, 2011

I was taught in sociology, years ago, that a major part of the extension of life expectancy was from hygiene, not medicine.....and without vaccines evolution would have proceded the way it was intended, and at least some of those diseases were limited by quarantine.

As with many complex topics ... what you learned in sociology is in some ways correct, but doesn't tell the whole story. Sure, life expectancy has increased dramatically due to improvements and basic hygiene practice. The average young person does not need the dramatic medical advancements to survive. So, if you look just at those numbers, more people live longer because of hygiene improvements than medicine. However, for those people who do contract serious diseases or who get injured ... their lives are saved by advances in medicine and nursing.

In other words, not many young people need heart surgery, but for those who do, healthcare advances are necessary for them to survive (not just hygiene improvements).

So, I am still glad we have those health care improvements for those who need them -- and that includes meds.

Nascar nurse, ASN, RN · May 7, 2011

Coumadin - a nasty little toxic medication that can surely kill someone if used incorrectly and if not monitored properly.

44 years old, a history of 2 prior DVT/PE's and a diagnosis of Factor V.

The end result, I will now be on one of the most deadly/toxic medications for the rest of my life & I am ever so grateful that this medication is available to me. The alternative stinks. I've been lucky that those first two PE's didn't kill me. Now maybe I can avoid the third.

belgarion · May 7, 2011

If you think my asking "how do you live with yourselves is rude and demeaning then you did not read my post correctly. The prerequisite for that question was clearly "Discovering how harmful most prescribed chemicals are..."
Please let put your egos away before responding to this post people! I am obviously not attacking you but posing a question for you to pretend to answer....from my perspective. So far only 2 commenter's saw that. There is no reason to become offended unless you have feelings buried...dig them up!

The way the title was worded is provocative, accusatory, and would seem to be carefully thought out to elicit the very responses received. "How do you live with yourself" implies that you are accusing someone of having committed an act they should be ashamed of. Another way of wording would have been "how do you feel about feeding poison to sick people." If the OP doesn't want the responses received here to then maybe he shouldn't word posts in a manner guaranteed to draw these kind of responses.

Personally I'm very happy to take these "poisons" that keep my BP somewhere close to normal and the chronic pain down to a level of about 4. By the same token I can sleep well after giving a patient medications to fight an MRSA infection, keep their heart beating in a more or less regular rhythm, to keep them from drowning in their own fluids, or hopefully prevent any one of a million other ways a person can die from treatable conditions.

steveogurule · May 7, 2011

I appreciate all the thoughtful responses! This post offended a number of you, and I'm sorry about that! Please understand that this post was but a window into my then thought process at the beginning of my research on the topic. It's not fair to make assumptions about my critical thinking skills or to attack my motives. I'm out of school for the summer and doing independent research, and was hoping this forum could spur some ideas. Thanks!

wwfd · May 7, 2011

Maybe this is off topic, but how can a 3rd year nursing student list exp as 16 years? Just asking.

ktwlpn, LPN · May 7, 2011

I appreciate all the thoughtful responses! This post offended a number of you, and I'm sorry about that! Please understand that this post was but a window into my then thought process at the beginning of my research on the topic. It's not fair to make assumptions about my critical thinking skills or to attack my motives. I'm out of school for the summer and doing independent research, and was hoping this forum could spur some ideas. Thanks!

When I was writing essays for English class I often discovered that the research I did on my chosen topic changed my feelings about that topic.I have also learned that any documentary is written,directed and produced by people with an agenda.The more indiscriminate ones will blithely ignore any data that does not support their agenda. Your original post did sound inflammatory-a bit hysterical. Were you trying to stir the pot? Because you did a great job of that.As for the topic-even OTC meds are dangerous

leslie :-D · May 7, 2011

thinking aloud here...out of the 130,000 deaths, how many are from narcotic overdoses?

have a hunch, it'd be up there.

this 130,000 figure is meaningless to me.

if i am to make any sort of educated conclusion, i would need to see how this figure correlates to the text it was derived from.

will continue reading thread now.

leslie