OVERMEDICATED! YEP! ONLY IN AMERICA!

Hey, it's Marco! Are we an overmedicated society? Certainly much has been written concerning doctors' tendency over the past four decades to overprescribe antibiotics. Many physicians today worry that bacteria could build up immunities against these drugs, ruining antibiotics' effectiveness in the future. But as they are relatively inexpensive, antibiotics are often favored by physicians. But the expensive overmedication of America really began 12 years ago, when the Federal Drug Administration allowed drug companies to advertise their products on TV. Americans could now diagnose themselves during commercial breaks, and then "ask their doctor" to prescribe the most expensive, no-generic-available wonder drugs. The U.S. is the only industrialized country in the world that allows this practice, and it's not without controversy here. The pro argument is that some individuals who have been quietly suffering from one malady or another can be motivated to find a doctor and obtain medical help. The con argument is that many individuals with only one symptom—which might not necessarily indicate the problem the drug in the TV ad is for—may demand that medication from a physician, who in turn may see no harm in prescribing it.
http://www.chaada.org/OvermedicatingofAmerica.html