An ever increasing number of patients tell my wife and I that they can no longer afford their prescription medications. Due to insurance regulations patients are being forced to switch to generic forms. What alarms them is that they may have been on a particular drug that they felt was very effective for them-in some cases for years. Over the last few weeks several published reports stated that insurance company expenditure for prescription drugs is at an all time high. How much longer can this continue? Patients are left with three choices:
1 – Pay out of pocket for their present medications.
2 – Accept the generic versions that the insurance company picks for them.
3 – Change their lifestyle in whatever form necessary to correct the underlying need for medication and either decrease the need for meds or come off them entirely.
The purpose of Integrative and Functional Medicine is to find the root cause of one’s illness and correct it. In many cases we are able to greatly decrease the amount of medication or stop it totally! Undoubtedly there will always be a need for some prescription medications. However at the present time over-prescribing is an epidemic which appears to be worsening as we continue to put “band aids on bullet holes”. As I say to my patients, ” I really don’t believe that the cause of your depression is due to a lack of an anti-depressant! ”
Ultimately we each choose what path we walk regarding our health. We will pay one way or the other whether it be with smart healthy lifestyle choices or prescription medications. The choice is yours.

Allan W Redash, MD