I found this article in my inbox this morning. There's no such thing as a free med.
"When suggesting a medical treatment, doctors often proffer the justification “it can’t hurt.” I believe “it can’t hurt” is fundamentally false, and should never be accepted as the sole reason for a medical intervention. A better adage to guide medical decisions is “there’s no such thing as a free lunch.”
Balancing risks and benefits is a basic part of life. In all domains, we are forced to weigh pros and cons, to accept trade-offs.
The balancing of risks and benefits is of course essential in healthcare too, but there is an added complication: While most of the benefits of a medical intervention are known upfront, discovering all of the risks can take years or decades.
Consequently, when considering medical treatments, especially newer treatments, I believe that doctors should apply a “risk tax” to account for the harms that will often materialize."
What can we learn from this?
Dr. Fenyves makes a great argument here. All drugs have adverse reactions associated with them and in most cases prescription drugs should be used as a last resort. Diet, exercise, sleep and supplementation should always come before turning to a prescription drug. There are too many risks, both know and unknown. We need to educate rather than medicate. Medicate when all else fails.
The 4 Pillars of Health are a great place to start.