Our clocks have been turned forward, and the march toward summer has begun; as the weather in Southern Nevada begins to grow warmer, we are also likely to see things heat up in the debate over preventing Las Vegas prescription drug harm.
At least since the advent of penicillin, Americans have had a love-hate relationship with the idea of each new “wonder drug,” tiny pills that we are told we can ingest in order to combat diseases from the life-threatening to the merely obnoxious. Supermarket aisles are dedicated wholly to hundreds of pills, tablets, syrups, gels, salves, and other vehicles for the wonders of modern science to enter our bodies and get to work. In fact, we have become so used to the concept of dealing with illness by “taking something for it” that we often forget the ease with which we can suffer from Las Vegas prescription drug harm. Cases that involve such a drug need to be contested by an expert .
Even though these wonder drugs are appealing, they also have their costs. Early litigation in Las Vegas prescription drug harm punished bio-med companies for creating products that addressed symptoms for some consumers while leaving others with a cure worse than the disease. These lawsuits and subsequent regulation have ensured that side-effects and risks are laid out along with possible drug benefits, but some say that this is little better. Late-night comedians regularly rely on commercials for pharmaceuticals as fodder for their routines: glossy advertisements with cliché images of serenity and contentment are peppered with laundry lists of possible side effects, which often range from dizziness to death. Other critics point to data that suggest that advertisements drive consumers to request or even demand new pharmaceuticals from their medical care providers, skewing the prescription of these medicines away from the Hippocratic Oath and toward greater likelihood of Las Vegas prescription drug harm.
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A recent media exposé highlights another problem: the rapid rise of counterfeit prescription medications is subjecting consumers to Las Vegas dangerous drug harm in two startling ways. The television program “60 Minutes” aired this month a story about counterfeit drugs and knock-off active ingredients that are infiltrating the U.S. market at a disturbing rate.
One source of these bad drugs is the Internet – Americans looking for a good deal on prescription meds often turn to “e-pharmacies” that promise brand-name drugs at competitive prices. Some of these operators are legitimate and provide savings by buying in bulk, but many others are complete shams that subject consumers to Las Vegas prescription drug harm. Preying on the conventional wisdom that Canada has a wealth of inexpensive, safe medicines, many of these Internet sites falsely claim to be operating out of Canada and then sell completely bogus pills to unsuspecting buyers. Chemical analysis of these pills reveals that they often contain powdered sugar or chalk, which can result in a patient unwittingly missing a vital dosage of a life-saving medicine; in other cases, toxic substances fill the tablets and create potential for Las Vegas prescription drug harm in that way.
Even more concerning, there have been a handful of instances where counterfeit drugs or falsely represented ingredients have made it into the actual, certified products of major drug manufacturers. Because some four-fifths of active ingredients are imported from overseas before they are manufactured domestically into medications, the risk for Las Vegas prescription drug harm from bogus ingredients is troubling.
Still another growing source of Las Vegas prescription drug harm is a very illegal one – amateur chemists turn powerful medications into illicit drugs such as methamphetamine, creating deadly compounds when they fail and unleashing powerfully addictive and destructive narcotics when they succeed. Nevada lawmakers hope to curb this trend of Las Vegas prescription drug harm by further regulating the sale and distribution of both prescription medications and substances that are currently available for “over-the-counter” purchase, but they are meeting resistance from drug manufacturers who worry about lost profits. Perhaps the strongest argument against these schemes to prevent Las Vegas dangerous drug interactions is their likely futility – if Nevada passes a strong purchasing law, amateur drug makers will just move to the nearest less-regulated state. A comprehensive solution is needed to address the growing trend of creating new kinds of Las Vegas prescription drug harm at the hands of these untrained chemists. Any such case in which an individual has been at the receiving end of the adverse effects of a drug should immediately be referred to a Las Vegas dangerous drug lawyer attorney.
Despite these trends and risks, as a society we are still eager to “swallow” the promises of prescription medications. Our celebration of the magic of these potent tablets invades not only our practice of healing and medicine but also our management of daily realities like aches, pains, and allergies. Meds are in our pop culture too, both in the destructive form of recreational use of prescription pain killers as well as objects of curiosity as seen in the new film “Limitless” about a man who takes a pill that allows him to unlock the full computing power of his brain. Most would agree that there is a place for medications in our society, but we must be vigilant in determining how to best avoid the considerable risks of Las Vegas prescription drug harm if we continue to embrace these pills. If you or a loved one have been harmed by faulty, defective, counterfeit, or otherwise tainted prescription drugs, contact us today for a free consultation and answers to your legal questions.