The science of medicine should find chemicals that should promote longevity and decrease misery.
For society, increasing one's life may not be good economically but decreasing one's misery helps by at least lessening the spread of the misery to others in society. However, it is a tenet in society to keep one alive as long as possible (without life support) ie life supersedes economics, happiness etc. Society's view on misery is not as high on the scale. Society would prefer one doesn't suffer but will tolerate one's suffering over the possible decrease in one's life.
The idealized pharmacy would dispense pills which would increase life and/or decrease misery, and educate on proper use of the pill. However, most pharmacies are not ideal. Their main objective is to sell as many pills as possible.Mostly corporations are in the medicine business. Corporations objectives are to make profits. Although the science of medicine can and does achieve this objective, this is not the only way to get people to takes pills. Herein lies the over medication of the masses.
The corporate pillmakers, through the guise of science, have skewed the data such that in is difficult to know the truth of the pills. The main tools they have used and continue to use to encourage pill usage include i) burying data ii) buying influential people in the medical field through a quid pro quo system iii) advertising to a gullible public. iv) advanced statistics. v) creating new diseases and/or lowering parameters of what is considered a disease. The gov't has set up what the pillmakers can/can't say but they are under staffed, lazy and under paid. There is little incentive to be a hero.
Through these methods, the pill prescriber will give the taker what the pill maker has created. It is pleasant for the pill prescriber to go with the zeitgeist and painful to go against. Again, there is little incentive to be a hero. The only resistance to this pill pushing machine is patent expirations, gov't's affordability to pay, insurance unwillingness to pay, etc.
Even if the pill making companies were to step aside, pill prescribers and pharmacies are a capitation business. The prescriber ensures repeat business by giving pills. The pharmacy, too, can only exist if people are taking pills. There is no negative feedback. In fact the more pills the better.
