Yes believe it or not, Prescription drugs kill one person every 19 minutes, and not just Celebrities are dying from this abuse.
Prescription drug abuse affects millions of Americans each year. The cost in the United States is substantial not only in terms of finances but in the number of lives lost. Not to mention the amount of celebrities lives as well as the average Americans.There are several ways that prescription drug are abused. Some involve obtaining prescriptions through multiple ways, buying the drugs illicitly off the street and taking them from the family medicine cabinet. Sometimes it is legitimately prescribed and the patient simply becomes addicted, never realizing that the original pain has long since stopped being a real issue.
Even when prescription drugs are legitimately prescribed there is potential for abuse. Many clinics offer little or no specialized oversight when prescribing pills for pain. This type of clinic is often referred to as a “pill mill”. These pill mills exist outside of many states and doctors often right prescriptions with only a very minimal face to face consultation with the patient.
Check out this video with (CNN)Dr Sanjay Grupta
Prescription drug abuse is a growing problem in the United States and indeed in the world. Over the last 10 years the number of drug induced deaths had almost doubled, according to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control ( CDC )in Atlanta. That equates to 1 death every 19 min from unintentional drug overdose deaths. The CDC is the organization normally responsible for declaring health disasters and infectious disease outbreaks, published a recent report certifying that prescription drug abuse has reached epidemic levels.
Sometimes the hardest thing to accept is the truth, but every one must take responsibility for their role in any form of substance abuse, whether its pain killers, alcohol, overeating, smoking etc, at the end of the day it all come down to being discipline, focus, and having a strong will to do the right thing.