How freaking hard is it to take a pill?

[doctorsun]

In case anyone doesn't know, AIDS and cancer still haven't been cured. Hell, we can't even cure a cold. Yet, these drug companies are spending millions, if not billions, of dollars on creating pills - and advertising pills - that people only have to take once a month or once a week or whatever.

It takes, what, 5 seconds to take a pill? Yet, we have to listen to women bitching about having to take a birth control bill everyday and how wonderful it is to have something they only have to take once a month. Even worse, we have Sally Field whining about her friend who "has to take time out of a day once every week to take her osteoperosis pill." Once a week? Is it really that big of a hassle?

I know this is a strange thing to be bothered by, but it's a freaking pill! It is not difficult to take a pill and I think it's ridiculous to be spending so much money on researching and developing new pills for non-life-threatening diseases just so people can take them less often. If we're going to make pills that people can take less often, why not make versions like that of heart medication or HIV cocktails or treatments for cancer symptoms and chemo therapy side effects? There are much better causes to be putting this money into than making new birth control pills.

 

[justsimon]

Have you ever been in a position which required you to take (and remember to take) medication for a long period of time? I've been in that position most of my life and it's more irritating than one might think.

 

[doctorsun]

Have you ever been in a position which required you to take (and remember to take) medication for a long period of time? I've been in that position most of my life and it's more irritating than one might think.

Yes, actually, I'm on allergy medication. I do sometimes forget to take it, but it's not a big deal. I don't expect billions of dollars to be spent on making a new pill that I only have to take once in a while so I don't get an allergy attack. It's not life-threatening. I would have no problem if they kept coming out with pills like this for things that were life-threatening.

 

[jockboy01]

I've been in that position... never bothered me to be honest.

And yet, people would love to have a weight loss pill rather than work at it. Go figure.

 

[Swellegant]

I don't understand why it's easier to remember a once-a-month drug... I'm always forgetting to take my daily meds, but if I only took them once a month, and forgot that, I'd be a mess!

But with these fancy and well-advertised drugs: the way I see it, they're developing "luxury" drugs, and these become cash-cows which in turn fund research in more important areas.

I mean, all that money that Pfizer makes off Viagra (their all-time biggest-selling product) goes back into research & development for live-saving treatments (and into the pockets of the shareholders, but that's a different story altogether). It takes very little R&D to develop these luxury drugs, you know; and some of the technology developed to make a once-a-month osteoporosis or birth-control pill might also be applied, later on, to simplifying those difficult cocktails for cancer or HIV or heart disease into a single medication that's not only easy to remember to take but is also cheaper.

The advertising is just a way of drumming up more sales so there's more money for R&D. Though really, I'd rather see less of them, myself. There are only so many tchetchy bladder ads I can sit through before I want to scream.

 

[just_mills]

I love dropping.

(I find myself unable to post something serious.. Sorry couldnt help it. Some will understand what I mean by my comment).

 

[Fire]

For some people, having to take pills every day is a constant reminder that there's something wrong with their body and that they are dependent on drugs to maintain their quality of life.

 

[doctorsun]

For some people, having to take pills every day is a constant reminder that there's something wrong with their body and that they are dependent on drugs to maintain their quality of life.

Birth control isn't one of those pills. Like I said earlier, if these were heart medication or cancer treatments or HIV cocktails or anything that genuinely helps improve your quality of life because of some life-threatening illness, I'm all for them. Birth conrtol pills are not important compared to those. They improve your lifestyle, not your life.

 

[The_Reaper]

You're also nelecting us poor suckers who for some strange psychological reason can't swallow the pill....

Before everyone gets all up in arms, and starts offering solutions...I've tried them all!

Every time, the tongue presses the pill to the roof of the mouth and says "Nope! Not going down like that."

So, excuse me while I go crush my pill and mix some yougurt in to swallow the damned thing...

Someone, be a dear and get the mouthwash ready...This stuff is usually pretty nasty.

 

[GoodbyeSobriety]

I love dropping.

?? A, B, C, D, ... E?

Anyways, let someone be a drama-queen about pills if they want. I distance myself from drama like the plague when I can.

If it's a medication, you have to take them no matter how much they suck, so why bitch about it?

- DMC

 

[dunno260]

In case anyone doesn't know, AIDS and cancer still haven't been cured. Hell, we can't even cure a cold. Yet, these drug companies are spending millions, if not billions, of dollars on creating pills - and advertising pills - that people only have to take once a month or once a week or whatever.

It takes, what, 5 seconds to take a pill? Yet, we have to listen to women bitching about having to take a birth control bill everyday and how wonderful it is to have something they only have to take once a month. Even worse, we have Sally Field whining about her friend who "has to take time out of a day once every week to take her osteoperosis pill." Once a week? Is it really that big of a hassle?

I know this is a strange thing to be bothered by, but it's a freaking pill! It is not difficult to take a pill and I think it's ridiculous to be spending so much money on researching and developing new pills for non-life-threatening diseases just so people can take them less often. If we're going to make pills that people can take less often, why not make versions like that of heart medication or HIV cocktails or treatments for cancer symptoms and chemo therapy side effects? There are much better causes to be putting this money into than making new birth control pills.

It isn't that easy to make a longer lasting pill. For things like heart medication I doubt they will ever be able to do that. You have to have a chemical that is going to stay in the body for that amount of time. Steroids often can do that like with a birth control pill (not sure how the long term ones work).

With most of the chemo therapy drugs, at least with the ones I have researched with, the liver and kidneys both do an excellent job of filtering those out. They simply aren't going to get around that.

Its not that they aren't spending money, although a lot of money for the cancer and aids stuff is in academia as well. But viagra was originally developed as a blood pressure medicine (and I believe is about to also get approved for treatment of pulminary hypertension). This is why viagra can't be taken with nitrates because both are vasodilators. So really viagra was intended to be a life saving medication.

The drug companies aren't the devil incarnate, but they aren't great people either. Somewhere in between. And the research in birth control is a lot more focused because they know what they do.

 

[yankee]

You're also nelecting us poor suckers who for some strange psychological reason can't swallow the pill....

Before everyone gets all up in arms, and starts offering solutions...I've tried them all!

Every time, the tongue presses the pill to the roof of the mouth and says "Nope! Not going down like that."

So, excuse me while I go crush my pill and mix some yougurt in to swallow the damned thing...

Someone, be a dear and get the mouthwash ready...This stuff is usually pretty nasty.

OMG i am the same way, i can not swallow a pill if my life depended on it. It just WONT go down.