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Today many parents get their child prescribed a drug to help in school because they believe their child to have ADD or ADHD, and they don t want their child to fall behind in school or have any less of a chance than their peers do to succeed in school. ADD or Attention Deficit Disorder, is one of the fastest growing diagnoses in America today especially in children, and because of this many parents believe that their children are at a disadvantage in school against a child on a learning stimulant so they in turn get their child diagnosed as ADD and he gets his own supplement to do well in school.  In fact, in 1995 more than five million children were classified as  learning disabled, 25 percent greater than a decade ago. Within these categories of disability, ADD is the fastest growing illness, with number doubling over the past five years. (Pollack 36-37) We can see that children now more than ever are taking more and more pills for school and that parental concern for a child s ability to keep up in the classroom is one of the leading causes of the over medication of America. The next cause to address in this discussion of the over medication of America is the pharmaceutical companies and their role in this story. Pharmaceutical companies are making more profit now than they have in the history of their industry. With many allies in Washington the pharmaceutical companies have more power than ever in producing drugs and getting these drugs to the consumer. Due to this we now have a drug for every possible ailment known to mankind. If you have chronic heartburn, male impotence, arthritis, or even back hair there is a medication waiting for yoCHNKWKS RøÿÿÿÿTEXTTEXT²IFDPPFDPPLFDPCFDPCNSTSHSTSHPSTSHSTSHP8SYIDSYIDVPSGP SGP jPINK INK nPBTEPPLC rPBTECPLC ŠPFONTFONT¢P<STRSPLC ÞP:FRAMFRAMQˆDOP DOP  QCharles Moore Hrhistova Rhe 306 3/11/05 Essay #2 Rough Draft The over medication of America is a new phenomenon to the country. While Americans have been taking medication for years, they have never taken as many as they do now in regards to age, class, and sex. Nowhere in America history can we see a time where mothers were getting their children prescribed Aderol in the 4th grade in order to be able to keep up with their peers in school than in our own time. Nowhere else but our own time can we see the glut of different medications being put out by pharmaceutical companies in order to make a profit, sometimes without fully testing the medications for side effects before the consumer buys the product. Also in our time websites such as WebMD.com have sprung up giving people the chance to diagnose their own symptoms and finding a doctor to prescribe them the medication which they think sometimes wrongly will help heal their ailment. With new herbal medications out in the market for peoples problems there are more choices for people who don t want typical medical solutions. The problem is that many of these herbal supplements are over the counter and are not tested for dangerous substances before they are given to the public. America is richer than it has ever been, and because of this people have more money to spend on themselves. Some people choose to spend this money on medications for such ailments as hair loss, being overweight, and search for products that offer a quick fix without researching everything they can about the medication they are about to use. Given all of this one can see that America is more medicated now than it has ever been in the and seems to be heading for more and more medication in the coming years. One u. With so many new drugs flooding the market and so much money being made off of these new medications pharmaceutical companies are more powerful than they have ever been, and this helps them in getting their product through the tricky maze of FDA and congressional approval to the consumer. Some are even complaining about pharmaceutical companies newfound power,  Democrats in Congress argue that the latest dustups show that the FDA needs more regulatory power and a bigger budget to stand up to the pharmaceutical industry. (Gorman) We can see that even in Congress people are recognizing the pharmaceutical industry s growing power in America through its gains in profit from this decade of unparalleled growth in the number of new medication being produced and people taking these new medications. Thus the pharmaceutical industry in one of the biggest factors and biggest winners of the growing over medication. Another cause of over medication is health websites that have sprung up like WebMD.com for example. With these new websites people can now log onto the internet go to one of these websites and diagnose themselves and then find what type of treatment will work for them. Many of these sites have disclaimers that tell the viewer that the site takes no responsibility for misdiagnosis, and that the viewer of the website should go to a doctor to get the diagnosis checked out for sure. Even though these sites say this what they do is put a belief into peoples head of what condition they have and what needs to be done to treat it, and they go into doctors offices with pre-determined results of what s wrong with them and what needs to be done about it. Even if a doctor doesn t agree with the person they can go around to enough doctors until they find the diagnosis they want and get the prescription to the medication that the website said would help their particular ailment. It is because of this that medical websites are somewhat dangerous and contribute to the over medication of America by setting an idea in a persons head that he or she has diagnosed their own problem and cure without first consulting with a doctor who can properly diagnose their symptoms and proper treatment of those symptoms. Herbal supplements are a different approach to take than traditional medication but also contribute to the over medication of America. In America today many people are very specific about their bodies and work our and take herbal supplements in order to mold themselves into how they see themselves. The problem with this is that many herbal supplements have not been properly tested and may cause harm or have side effects that the person might not know about.  The researchers aren t recommending any herbal products, and they re not thrilled with results seen in the few studies of herbal medicine in kids. Still, they didn t want to look the other way. An estimated 20-40 percent of kids have been exposed to herbal products for everything from anxiety to insomnia to colds, they estimate.  As more and more children are exposed to botanical products, it is important that the safety and efficacy of these treatments be well established in controlled clinical trials, write the researchers. (Hitti) With so many different herbal supplements on the market today you would think people would be more careful about how they used these supplements. In fact though the sale of herbal supplements is up and not only for work out supplements but also for common colds, headaches, and other everyday problems. Not to say that headaches and common colds contribute to the over medication of America, but that herbal supplements as an unregulated alternative to medications in more serious problems than headaches and colds helps contribute to the over saturation of the medications market with untested, unsafe in some cases alternatives to traditional medicine. In conclusion, the over medication of America is a phenomenon that came about due to many different factors. On one side you have the pharmaceutical companies pumping out more and more medications some tested rigorously some not, flooding the market right now so that any ailment no matter how obscure you can probably find a medication for it. Herbal supplements are also in this category with the pharmaceutical companies in that they want to get their product out as fast as possible to as many people as possible in order to make profits. On the other side you have the consumer, the public who are clamoring for more medications, more supplements to fix problems that sometimes aren t even there in the first place. Sites like WebMd.com are convincing people that they have problems that need to be taken care, often with the newest trendiest medication out there. Mothers are getting their children diagnosed for ADD in order to get them the study aides that they believe will either level the playing field for their child or give them the upper hand against their peers. America must take a step back and really look at this over medication of itself, for if it doesn t dangerous drugs will continue to be made without proper study of its positives and negatives, and in the case of the children we might be growing a generation of over medicated individuals who will be so medicated that they can not even get up in the morning and face life without a cocktail of anti-depressant, attention directing, herbal memory supplements medications. I m not saying medications are bad or that modern medicine is a bad thing, far from it, but we must be more vigilant in getting properly diagnosed, and making sure that the medications we do take are safe. 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