Prescription medicines, just as the name itself suggests, are the ones which the doctors prescribe to their patients for the treatment of their various diseases. Though these meds were invented with the purpose of curing different illnesses of human beings but as time passed by a new problem got associated with these drugs. This problem was of addiction. In the beginning, it looked so unbelievable that meds which cure our ailments can even turn us into addicts. But slowly, this fact was proved.

Today, there are millions of people who have become addicted to prescription medicines and the problem is growing speedily. The other undeniable risk that joins up the line of problems associated with prescription medicines is the side effects. Almost all tablets and other medications which are recommended by our doctor possess some sort of side effects. The only thing is that these effects vary from body to body just as the effects of different meds can be different on several bodies. It is not at all an exaggeration when I say that some of these side effects are even worse than the illness itself. So the question is that is there a way out to stay away from these prescription medicines?

Of course, we can keep ourselves away from prescription medicines. And in short, it can be said that a healthy lifestyle will minimize your chances of falling ill and will thus keep you away from the risk of taking any sort of prescription medicines. Let me say that the secret for a good health and a healthy lifestyle begins with a proper work-out schedule. So if you are not exercising at all, you are pushing yourself towards diseases. Before following any kind of work-out, first ask your doctor that is it okay for you to exercise. If he says yes for that you can begin with a simple morning walk. This walk should consist of 10-15 minutes in the beginning and in few days you can stretch it to 40 minutes.
 
If you really do not want to fall ill and go through prescription medicines, include fresh fruits and green vegetables in your diet. Try to eat leafy vegetables. Do not forget to include a platter of fresh salad along with your regular meal. Another important thing to do is to drink 8 to 10 glasses of water every day. Water keeps your body hydrated and is good for your overall metabolism. Apart from these physical mantras, make your own rules like laughing every day, going out with family and friends and staying away from any kind of tension as far as possible. These simple tips will keep diseases away from you will rescue you from prescription medicines treatment.

Prescription medicines are expensive, very expensive. But why? What are the real causes behind such expensiveness? I think there are three major reasons behind this high cost. Let us discuss them one by one.  

Research and Development

The foremost reason behind the high cost of prescription medicines is the research and development involved in their making. The pharmaceutical labs and other medicinal laboratories conduct a research and development task for making new meds. This involves a lot of money. In turn, the pharmaceutical companies put high price tags on tablets.   

Advertising Makes Prescription Medicines Expensive

Every health related company provides the reason of research behind the high cost of prescription medicines. But I think, even more important reason is the advertising for these drugs. A major share of cost that we pay for our meds goes to advertising. Remember the good old days when the meds did not use to be so costly? Reason? No advertising. Today, every business is spending huge money on advertising campaigns. And so the same applies to prescription medicines industry also.

Every advertisement (whether a TV ad, a radio ad or a magazine ad) requires a huge sum of money. Who pays for all this money? Where do the pharmaceutical companies get all the money from? Of course, we are the ones who pay this money by purchasing prescription medicines. Moreover, I have often seen a common closing line in advertisements which states as refer to your doctor or ask your doctor for X drug. This sounds ridiculous because how can we suggest our doctor about which medicine should he prescribe to us!

The Legal Expenditures of Pharmaceutical Companies

Every pharmaceutical company, whether big or small, has its own legal expenses. Again we are the ones who indirectly provide money for these expenses. Have you noticed a lengthy list in advertisements? This list is of disclaimers and these disclaimers are written by lawyers. The lawyers charge high fee for doing this task. No medicine ever explains the side effects or the ill results that can occur due to the consumption of that medicine. The lawyers just write and approve the disclaimers and provide protection to pharmaceutical companies against any lawsuit.

There are few options to save ourselves from the expenses of prescription medicines. One is to look for the generic versions of the prescription medicines. The second one is to adopt a healthy lifestyle so that you minimize the chances of any serious illness. Precaution is always better than cure and that%u2019s why you should say goodbye to any bad habit of yours, so that no problems arise in future.

Before a new drug is launched in the market millions of dollars are spent in the process of discovery and running the clinical tests. The manufacturers of the drugs invest their money and time in the process of producing these drugs and in return they are granted a patent for the new drug they have discovered. Only after the expiration of the patent, the generic drugs can be manufactured.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has imposed a time limit on the patent provided to the drug manufacturer.  This time limit varies from country to country. Once the time limit of the patent is over, other manufacturers get the chance of producing the generic version of the drug and launch it in the market. But it is important that the generic version should be nearly identical to the brand name and the ingredients must also be nearly the same as in the original drug.

The advantage of these generic drugs is that they are cost effective. The price of these identical drugs is much lower than the original medicine. The reason behind it is, firstly, they are copied, which relieves these drugs from the expenses of research work and laboratories trial. Another, reason is there are more than one company in the market who manufactures these generic versions.

Due to the above mentioned reasons the competition between the manufacturers%u2019 increases and it is a known fact that when the competition increases the prices automatically goes down. And no doubt the consumers also prefer the product with cheaper price when there is no difference in the benefits provided by the product.

As compared to USA it is less expensive to manufacture the generic drugs in other countries as the people are ready to work at low wages. The people of United States show more interest in purchasing the generics than the people of any other country. The generics hold about 78 percent of the total market of US.

The best method in the present time of buying generic medicines is through internet. There are many online dealers who sell these drugs at different prices and different brand names. It is important that you have the ability to identify the genuine dealers to make the best deals. Buying the pharmaceuticals online helps in saving money too. This is because the cost of the drugs is already lower and also the people sometimes get the seasonal discounts on these medicines which make them more affordable.

So, if you are looking forward to buy generic drugs, you can get them through online dealers at very affordable prices as compared to the prices offered in the market.