There is a pill for everything. And the drug companies will never hesitate to promote some new pill that cures boredom or enhances our sexual drive. The problem with so many of those miracle pills is the number of side effects. Of course, modern research has come up with pills that work faster and better, prevent heart attacks, and cure diseases that would have killed people in past centuries. But what we find most interesting is the small print, which in television and radio ads is a fast-talking reader telling us to that the company is not legally responsible for whatever happens to you with the pills even if you take them as directed. they just advise you to call your doctor if you experience any of the serious symptoms they announce. They are not really interested in knowing how you have been affected by their medicines, they just want to make sure we take pills for everything from pain to ill humor.
One pill advertises a cure for hypertension. The people in the ad appear to be calm and going about their daily lives without worries, but the warnings are clear that the medicine may be worse than the actual illness. Itchy skin, headaches, muscle cramps, joint stiffness all can be treated with medicines. Bad skin, colds, baldness, they can all be treated. But the small print will warn us about the consequences of such cures. One particular pill will remove pain but may bring on depression, a skin rash, fever, chills, mood changes and in some cases, even death. There are serious illnesses that can be dealt only with such medicines, but we could stop taking pills for everything, live with a bit of pain, and perhaps avoid the increasing number of super bugs immune to antibiotics.