Do we need prescription drugs?

It really depends on the particular dru g you are talking about!

Carpenter - For our own protection as patients, we do need prescription drugs in many, but not all cases. I know that millions of people could all be happier if we could buy without prescriptions such drugs as morphine, Oxycontin, codeine. Vicodin, Percodan, cocaine, speed (amphetamines), and barbiturates. Even life-saving drugs could kill millions by being used for the wrong diagnosis. Medical treatment should be based on an accurate diagnosis. ONLY the well-trained physician is best capable of examining the person, not just a disease, and prescribing the right drugs. Often drugs are more expensive when they do not require a prescription in your health insurance plan. We very much need some protection against our own bad judgments to stay alive and healthy. Pharmacists are great, but not enough; they need to be members of the medical team.

Drug companies advertise on TV and magazines for prescription drugs to sell their profitable products, each claiming to be the best. This is to get patients to pressujre doctors to push their prescription-required medicine which is often not the best.

Yes we do, a pharmacist is not a doctor.