The Pros And Cons Of Medical Advancements

I. Introductory Paragraph A. There’s a dark side to medical advancements in the area of prescription drugs, new medical technologies, and approaches to treating life threatening diseases. B. Medical advances refer to a higher state of development or improved feature in the science and art of health maintenance and the prevention or alleviation of disease. C. In 2011 the global human population reached seven billion, attracting a lot of media attention around societal health. A key finding was that the people who were likely to worry about the risks of overpopulation were the the same people who supported medical advancements. In 2015 the state of Kentucky and its attorney general filed a civil lawsuit against the drug company Purdue

These world events have heightened the urgency of the problems caused by medical advancements.

E. Since the 1980’s medical advancements have had unintended negative consequences on society’s well being and health.

II.New prescription drugs have caused large fatalities since 2016.

A study found that 328,000 people die from prescription drugs a year. Strokes caused by prescription drugs rank 4th as the leading cause of deaths. Commonly used prescription drugs like OxyContin, Vicodin, Xanax and Soma now cause more deaths than heroin and cocaine combined. B. Drug companies are spending more money on advertising to make their products look safe and reliable when the opposite is true. C. These drugs are Federal Department of Agriculture (FDA) approved so they must be somewhat safe if used correctly. D. Not all FDA approved drugs get the same amount of testing. A study found that many drugs undergo less thorough testing than others. Although the FDA usually needs two trials before approving a drug, a study led by the Yale University School of Medicine found that 37% of approved drugs were backed by a single study. This is a large percentage of prescription drugs, and creates a false sense of

New advances in medical technologies have contributed to many fatalities each year because of their high prices, inconclusive results, and overall risks. A. Medical technology has raised the cost of health care insurance by 7 percent in the past year. Healthcare costs in 2016 were 2.5 trillion dollars and are expected to keep rising. Medical technologies also can create inconclusive results with patients and cause them to do a treatment that they do not have to undergo. Also, medical technology can be high risk. Patients undergoing radiation therapy can be exposed to strong levels of radiation if error occurs.

B. Medical technology raises the costs of health care and makes it harder for lower class families to afford access to good health care. In addition, medical technology can often give widespread and vague results which can lead to unneeded testing, for which patients still have to pay. Medical procedures have high risk rates. If one thing goes wrong during the procedure it can have a negative long term effect on the patent. C. New Medical technologies have helped save hundreds of thousands of lives per year. D. However, the negative effects of medical technologies outweigh the pros. The amount of uncertainties that come with medical technologies make it not worth the