Make medicine more expensive; use natural alternatives

The editorial that claims “drug pricing is too complex to fix with Proposition 61” stresses that Medicare and health care costs will increase due to this bill instead of making treatments more affordable and accessible for people.

Although some procedures and minor medicines can be beneficial or life saving, this day and age relies on pharmaceutical companies too heavily. It is understandable why the United States is said to make up “5 percent of the world’s population but accounts for 42 percent of global prescription drug spending,” according to Procon.org.

Because of the massive use of direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising, which is now only legal in two countries, it’s not surprising that the population relies on artificial means of getting better. Instead of investing in healthy, natural and safe ways of living, we continue to trust in a magical pill or procedure that will fix everything.

Most of the medicines prescribed to patients cause problems of overdose and overuse. Medicine generally treats symptoms instead of curing the root problem. Maybe the passage of Proposition 61 will make all forms of medicine more expensive and people will turn to the resources in the world outside of the doctor’s office.

This story was originally published September 29, 2016 at 12:04 PM with the headline "Make medicine more expensive; use natural alternatives."