Historical, Clinical, And Legal Status of Medicinal Agents

The use of drugs to treat human disease can be traced all the way back to our evolutionary forefathers. Drugs are powerful chemicals with a high potential for harm if they are misused or overused. Pharmaceuticals can spark debates regarding their relative dangers and advantages in specific contexts, even when taken correctly. The use of modern middlemen in the distribution of the most powerful pharmaceuticals, such as physicians or pharmacists, increases the risk of conflict between those who control the resource and those who want access to it. Because of the size and importance of the pharmaceutical–industrial complex, people whose interests lie in promoting and expanding pharmaceutical use in society wield disproportionate power. The high cost of some pharmaceuticals makes equal allocation difficult, and the concentration of pharmaceutical power in Western, industrialised countries encourages disproportionately more research and drug discovery for diseases that affect the wealthier countries. The increasing sophistication of pharmacological action calls into question the traditional approach of utilising medications to treat pathological illnesses and processes, and opens the possibility of pharmaceuticals being used for lifestyle and enhancement purposes.