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'Pill for every ill' proves costly for Britain's NHS

We are a pill popping generation who believe in a ‘pill for every ill’ as a quick fix solution.GPs are only too happy to dole out prescription while the pharmaceutical companies laugh their way to the banks. And this is proving to be costly affair for the Britain’s National Health Service.

The cost of drugs handed over by the GPs crossed the £10billion barrier and has jumped by over 27 percent in the past 5 years. A GP gives out an average of 81 prescriptions a day compared to 64 prescriptions five years ago. A considerable percentage of these prescriptions are anti-depressants, weight loss pills and antibiotics. A staggering number of 730,000 prescriptions for anti-depressants and 870,000 antibiotics are handed out per week!

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Instead of counseling people for depression, the GPs see prescribing antidepressants as an easy option. GPs are handing out prescriptions for weight loss pills instead of nutritional advice and exercise plans.

This is costing the British’s NHS heavily and the authorities are left to ration the funding to tackle more important issues like IVF treatments.

This is a very disturbing trend and there is a danger that we end up in a society where we think everything can be resolved by the latest pharmaceutical development. And there is a danger that we stop taking responsibility for our own lives.

Says Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb.

While it is easy to blame the GPs for doling out prescriptions, it is time for the authorities and society to wake up and take note of the root cause of the problem. Why are so many people growing obese, becoming depressed and seeking professional help? There would be no GPs to hand out prescriptions if the patients were not there in the first place. Don’t you agree?

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