ULTIMATELY, YOU CONTROL YOUR DRUG COSTS
Filed Under Medication Costs |
You are the ultimate determinant of your drug cost. In this age, visits to the physician are frequently requests for medication. If your satisfaction with the physician depends on whether or not you are given medication, you are applying pressure against your own best interest. If you go to a physician because of a cold and request a “shot of penicillin,” you are asking for poor medical practice. Penicillin should infrequently be given by injection, and it should not be given for uncomplicated colds. Your physician knows this but may give in to your pressure.
The most frequently prescribed medications in the United States, making up the bulk of drug cost, are not scientifically important medications. Instead, they are tranquilizers, minor pain relievers, and sedatives. These prescribing patterns arose, in large part, because of ill-advised consumer demand. You can decrease the cost of medications by using some of the techniques above; you can eliminate them almost completely by decreasing your pressure to receive and utilize medications which you do not require.