Do you feel as though prescribing medicine is the easy way out of treatment? Or is there usually no other option when medicine is prescribed?

Medications are an important part of treatment of many conditions, but, yes, sometimes doctors may indeed rx meds when they don't really know what else to do. That said, many patients often want a pill to swallow to make them feel better rather than to have to work to change their lifestyle.

The pharmaceutical industry is very powerful now, and medications are marketed over the television like never before. Patients go to the doctor's office armed with this information and often demand to be given prescriptions. Parents demand antibiotics for sick children who have viruses and whom will not be helped by the meds, but the doc feels cornered and coerced into writing the rx.

Medications are only part of the treatment of any disease, but swallowing a pill is often easier for the patient, and more convenient for the doctor. Think about it---50 or 60 years ago, there wasn't much more than aspirin and some antibiotics and pain medications. Things have really changed...

Yes, meds are important, but the power of "Big Pharma" has taken over. I think that television commercials advertising prescription drugs should be banned. I also think that pharmaceutical companies should not be allowed to take doctors on expensive trips to the Caribbean to play golf.

Too much money is spent on advertising medications, and consumers are often led to believe that they can simply see a commercial, talk to their doctor, and be prescribed the latest drug at their whim.

Medications are a part of healthcare, but are often seen, in my opinion, as too central to health and medicine. Lifestyle changes and diet and exercise are also important, yet doctors often do not have enough time to discuss these issues with patients during 15-minute office visits.