Americans Too Lazy To Even Take Magic Health Pills

I am pretty much cynical about everything, but I must admit I’m impressed by modern medicine. “Wait, so you mean I can take these little pills and my health will improve?” Ding, ding, ding. Easy answers, this is what I like to see.

I am, however, about as organized as a college student, i.e. I don’t even know what day it is. And sometimes I do forget to take my little magic pills that stop me from coughing or sneezing or crying all day or having ridiculous acne. (That last one is the best one.) But I’m usually pretty good and rarely miss a day, because these are magic pills that improve your life. Apparently, though, most people are even worse than I am.

A radio report on KYW 1060 says people don’t take prescriptions like they should. A study says this somehow costs the economy $177 billion in bills and lost productivity. (Right, but remember: That dude comes out with a study saying the NCAA Tournament costs the economy like 20 trillion dollars every year.)

Anyway, not even helping us get healthy with little magic pills is easy enough for Americans.

There’s many issues. In fact, there are a number of layers of things that are problematic. First of all, it’s not always easy to read the prescription directions. Many times they’re confusing. When you get your prescription from the pharmacy, they’re could be all sorts of paperwork or things stapled or glued to the prescriptions.

In addition to that, many people don’t believe they have to take their medications. For instance, people with high blood pressure don’t take their medications as much as 51 percent of the time, despite the fact that high blood pressure could triple the risk of heart disease down the road.

So if we’re smart enough to figure out how to get our medicine out of the packaging — there are things stapled to it! — there’s a chance we might believe we should take this medicine. Keep in mind, we also spend billions of dollars on dietary supplements, but still don’t take enough calcium or whatever.

Poor Medication Adherence Could Be Costing US Billions [KYW 1060]

Words To Live By

Start of New Year is a Good Time for a Physical Examination [KYW 1060]