Big Pharma recently announced a marketing campaign posing as patient advocacy. The industry’s trade association and advocacy arm said it is spending hundreds of billions of dollars to develop drugs domestically, providing financial aid to 10 million Americans and launching a consumer-friendly drug access website.

The industry is framing the campaign as a response to public criticism and consumer-friendly demands from President Donald Trump. But if they really wanted to help drugs become more affordable, the companies could save a lot of money by simply reminding 340 million Americans that lifestyle and personal choices matter more than popping pills.

I’ve been a physical therapist for 25 years, earning my master’s degree in 2000. Since then, I’ve worked with patients to recover from surgeries, heart conditions, diabetes, and dozens of other chronic and acute health issues. Sometimes those challenges are genetic; other times, they come from years and decades of poor lifestyle choices that are as simple as too much stress, too little sleep and unhealthy eating.

And, yes, many of my patients seek treatment after years of using drugs that masked their problems – while solving none of them.

When those patients come to me, my first question is to ask for their bloodwork. I’ll sit down with them and examine all of their critical markers. When something doesn’t seem quite right, I encourage patients to go to their medical provider and ask for evidence-based reasons for current treatments, or whether the provider would give approval for trying natural solutions instead of the current or prescribed drug regimen.

Americans are dying from overprescription

Real drug savings start when people no longer need to rely on a cabinet full of prescriptions. Sometimes they do need medicine, but what they need most is help and encouragement to make the best decisions for their life, not Big Pharma’s profits. The industry could best serve Americans by being a similar voice that advocates for better overall health.

Instead, more Americans are taking more medications than ever before. Research from the Lown Institute shows that more than 4 in 10 older adults take five or more prescription medications – that's three times more than 20 years ago and it’s led to countless unintended consequences. An estimated 150,000 older Americans will die due to medication overload over the next decade, and many more will suffer a reduced quality of life.

The cost of this overprescription trend could be as much as $62 billion over the next decade in unnecessary hospitalizations, the Lown Institute says.

I’m a big fan of using drugs when they are the evidence-based solution to the problem. I may eventually need a hip replacement; if necessary, I’ll use whatever pain prescription the doctors recommend. And when my 3-year-old son or older stepdaughters have ear infections or strep throat, I outrace my wife to get the right antibiotics at the pharmacy.

But I have also seen a therapist who changed my life not through a drug regimen, but instead by helping me develop gratitude practices and deal with prior trauma in healthy ways. A drug could have suppressed some of the symptoms, but the underlying problems would have remained unresolved.

New pharma campaign still meant to bring profits to Big Pharma

Similarly, my wife and I have incorporated health-supporting regimens in our daily lives, like a cold bath in the morning and a sauna in the evening. They clear out the garbage, energize us and provide some healthy laughter when the bath is 38 degrees Fahrenheit in January. They give all of the benefits that drugs are supposed to provide, with none of the side effects.

The simple fact is that Americans use too many drugs, starting in childhood. We give kids Ritalin instead of outdoor time, anti-anxiety medication to adults instead of recommending exercise and anti-depressants instead of replacing brain-harming “comfort foods” with healthier diets. Big Pharma throws flashy ads about drugs that will give us energy instead of reminding everyone that a good sleep is the best anti-stress medicine around.

The new pharma campaign is sophisticated and expensive – but ultimately designed to increase Big Pharma’s profit. It’s a shame the industry won’t make real change that would reduce people’s need to rely on expensive medicine. After all, the goal should be health, not perpetual illness that needs dose after dose of prescription drugs.

Eric Sampsell holds a master’s degree in physical therapy and is the owner of Sampsell Physical Therapy and Functional Wellness in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: I know how to cut drug costs, and it isn't by bargaining with Big Pharma | Opinion

Reporting by Eric Sampsell / USA TODAY

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