Pharmaceuticals Play a Major Role in Drug Detox Views

I read a truly amazing statistic today: In 2005 - the latest year for which figures are available - U.S. hospitals delivered 108 million emergency department visits. That's like saying every third person in America hit an emergency ward at least once that year. Since that's out of the question, it means some people have to be going to emergency over and over again. I also noticed that 1.5 million of those 108 million visits were for drug misuse or abuse. I wasn't surprised that illicit drugs were involved in 57% of them, but I was surprised that 49% involved pharmaceuticals abuse or misuse. That sends a clear message about how bad the over-the-counter and prescription drug abuse and misuse problem has become. The recent statistics on OxyContin addiction and abuse prove the point. It also says that hundreds of thousands of people need drug detox and drug rehab.

These statistics, released by the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), showed that the problem is increasing every year. The greatest increase involves stimulant drugs such as methamphetamine, a 33% increase, followed by respiratory agents such as antihistamines and decongestants, a 31% increase. Opioids such as the addictive pain reliever OxyContin increased 24%. And there were increases for antipsychotics, benzodiazepines and other pharmaceuticals.
Drug companies continually develop and test new pharmaceuticals that are designed to better treat and manage various ailments. These drugs alter how an individual's body works, so they must undergo extensive testing before the government will allow the companies to sell them.

Testing occurs in various stages. After a drug is developed, the company that developed it will first turn to laboratory testing. This testing consists of administering the drug to laboratory mice. The examination period will let the scientists know whether the pharmaceutical is safe for human testing or not.

In the human testing stage, the pharmaceutical company pays individuals to be part of a drug trial. The development scientists will observe the individuals and take note of how well the drug works in combating the targeted ailment, as well as any side effects resulting from usage.

When the scientists determine the drug is safe, the Food and Drug Administration may conduct its own tests before allowing the pharmaceutical company to market the drug to the public. When the company gets the go ahead, though, it is allowed to sell its product.

Even though newly developed pharmaceuticals undergo extensive testing, some of which takes years to complete, some side effects do not appear in lab testing or drug trials. When this is the case, individuals who have been given the medication may be at great risk for unintended side effects.However, this pharmaceutical treatment can come at a price. We have begun to expect so much from our medication. Recent studies have shown that the placebo effect - the phenomenon in which a patient begins to feel effects from medicine because he expects be feeling effects from medicine - has seen a steady increase in the United States. Many believe that this is because we've come to anticipate so much from our drugs that we've grown to associate them with healing. The assumption that medication will be helpful merely because it's medication is, deep down, a dangerous one.