As early as the first century BC, Publilius Syrus said, "There are some remedies worse than the disease." The infamous skit by Bill Murray on "Saturday Night Live" several years ago described the rather tortuous treatments used during the Middle Ages to cure their ailments to include bleedings, mutilations, and removal of limbs. Even today, people are learning that some remedies are worse than the disease as patients find that their gastrointestinal (GI) bypass surgeries need to be reversed due to complications they never expected or that popular drugs are being withdrawn from the market due to their adverse side effects.

There's no doubt that the American public is aggressively seeking quick fixes to its ailments today. In an effort to capitalize on this, marketing experts are using all types of advertising techniques to push certain drugs. Look at the most recent trends in TV drug advertising. You can get free samples of that little purple pill to relieve GI symptoms. For pain, you can get free coupons for a medication that will put you in a euphoric state and make you feel as if you are floating in the clouds or walking through open fields full of wildflowers. If your cholesterol is high, you can follow the advice of those sweet little old ladies and take a medication for it. And, for those with sexual impairments, we learn about a pill that has enabled white-haired actors to behave like teenagers in the bedroom!!

People are lining up in droves at their physician's offices in order to get prescriptions for the medications they learn about online or on TV because they are convinced these drugs will help them. Even though as much as half of TV spots are spent describing a long list of side effects, these people seem not to pay any attention-even when their physician cautions them about the same potential problems. Years later, if they learn that a drug has been proven to be harmful and their remedy was worse than their ailment, they blame the pharmaceutical industry and the FDA for allowing these drugs to enter the market!! If Syrus were alive today to see this, he just might say that things have not changed very much.

Seeing the recent market recalls of certain popular drugs, many well-educated consumers have become skeptical about the use of drugs. This presents an opportunity for the dietitian, because medical nutrition therapy offers relatively risk-free solutions that can help prevent the need for some drugs and/or decrease people's dependence on them. In order to help dietitians to better communicate this concept to their clients, Melissa Baron starts a series "Reducing Drug Usage and Adverse Effects" this month. Marilyn Dahl also provides an article this month describing the Joint Commission's recent standards for medication management.

We welcome your letters to the editor.

Please feel free to share your comments, ideas, and innovative projects by writing to: Rita Jackson, PhD, RD, P.O. Box 1317, Fernandina Beach, FL 32035, E-Mail: [email protected]