I Was Thinking... A Cure All?

In the last several years, I can’t seem to watch anything on TV for very long before I am assaulted with another ad for some type of drug to solve some type of medical problem. Since the FDA has allowed the advertising of medications, the networks have found a never-ending source of revenue as national pharmaceutical companies try to convince consumers they need the next miracle drug.
Not only are these companies developing these drugs, they must also have a whole staff dedicated to coming up with the actual name for the new remedies. I’m sure my “spell check” will overload as I try to list some of the names of the drugs that pop up on television every couple of minutes. There is Dulxulac, Prevagen, Zavzpret, Tezspire, Quviviq, Rexulti, Tremfya, Rinvag, Vyvgard, Breztri, Paxavid, Linzess, Zithromax, Dupixent, Otezla, Rybelsus, Myrbetriq, Ubrelvy, Skyrizi, Cibinqo, and Lybalvi just to name a few. I hope I spelled most of them right, but I doubt most people could tell the difference. This is in vast contrast to the medicines I was familiar with when I was growing up. At least I could pronounce all those names.
The medicine cabinet in our house was behind the mirror in the bathroom that was above the sink. It wasn’t very large and also included toothpaste and my dad’s razor.
The staple of the collection was a small blue jar containing Vicks VapoRub. Whenever anyone got the sniffles, we got rubbed down with Vicks. There was also a small bottle of Mercurochrome or Iodine for those cuts and scrapes. For stomach ailments we probably had Alka Seltzer or Milk of Magnesia depending on the problem.
Usually there was also a small box with Ex-lax tablets if you got constipated. Somewhere in most homes was also the foul-tasting bottle of cod liver oil that was supposed to help everything. I also remember seeing Carter’s Little Liver Pills advertised but I never knew what they were for.
Oh, yes, we also had a bottle of aspirin for aches and pains but that was about it. However, there were also numerous home remedies available.
If we ever had a cold, I hoped we wouldn’t stop and see my Grandma Albright. She was a self-taught healer. She made her own cough syrup, had a special powder for skin ailments and had the perfect answer for anyone with a cold, blue cheese. To a kid of 7 or 8, it was the worst smelling and tasting stuff in the world, but you ate it nevertheless because grandma knew best.
Although most of our over-the-counter medicines weren’t complicated or had a fancy name, they must have worked because I made it to this advanced age. In fact, most of them are still around today. In addition, none of them ever really warned us of any lingering side effects. That isn’t exactly true of our new generation of miracle drugs.
About half of the current drug commercials expound the benefits of the drug while the rest of the ad discussed the possible side effects. The new generation of medications promise to help to improve your sleep, reduce your migraine headaches, deal with overactive bladder, help with Alzheimer’s, manage your diabetes, reduce your plaque psoriasis, treat irritable bowel syndrome, reduce the effect of COVID-19, cope with your COPD, or control your asthma.
While the benefits seem hopeful, the list of side effects may make you think twice. While you watch a couple walk hand in hand along the beach, relieved of their malady, the announcer continues to warn you. You might get a fever, sweats, or chills. You could have muscle aches, weight loss, or get a cough. You could develop a rash, breathing problems, or hives. You might get red itchy, swollen, or inflamed eyes.
Fainting, dizziness, or feeling lightheaded could occur. You might encounter diarrhea, stomach pains, swelling of your lips, mouth, or throat. But the final warning is usually, “Don’t take it if you are allergic to this medication,” like we would know this before we took it.
So, looking back, maybe cod liver oil and blue cheese weren’t so bad after all.
Did You Ever Wonder? — Is good health just a slower rate at which to die?