I. IntroductionPrescription drugs and their harmful effects are nothing new. Heroin was first introduced in 1898 as a non-addictive cough medicine. Time advances and knowledge matures. Heroin was soon discovered to be harmful, and the most addictive drug to date. Doctors stopped prescribing heroin at that time, due to its harmful nature. Yet doctors today still prescribe drugs with endless lists of side effects. The majority of our society, nearly 70%, takes at least one prescription drug (“Study”). An article compiled by Worst Pills, a website specializing in describing prescription drugs, presented many statistics on prescription drugs. Prescriptions can be extremely helpful in cases where “[but] hundreds of millions of these prescriptions are wrong, completely useless, or needlessly dangerous” (“Incorrect Prescriptions”). This was exemplified in a study “on such inappropriate prescribing in elderly patients found that 21.3% of community-dwelling patients aged 65 years or older were using at least one inappropriately prescribed medication” (“Incorrect Prescribing”). 1.5 million people are hospitalized every year due to an adverse reaction to a drug that should not have been prescribed (“Misprescribing”). This article varies from the rest, due to the overview. While most others focus on the overprescription of antidepressants, opioids, antibiotics, and ADHD medications, this article provides statistics on everything. Johnathan Rottenberg, Ph.D. published an article in Psychology Today about overprescribing antidepressants. Antidepressants are known to have a contradictory result: increased risk of suicide. One study showed that “antidepressants…… half of the paper…… 2014. Hassan, Allan Dr. Interviewed by Maria Medina. “Sacramento doctor may miss overprescribing issues.” CBS Sacramento. CBS Local Media, January 4, 2014. Web. January 12, 2014. “Incorrect Prescribing and Overprescribing of Drugs.” The worst pills. Public Citizen Health Research Group, nd Web. January 5, 2014Rottenberg, Jonathan. “The overprescribing of antidepressants has become simply ridiculous.” Psychology today. Sussex Publishers, 28 February 2011. Web. 5 January 2014 Singh, Maanvi. “Despite many warnings, antibiotics are still overprescribed.” NPR. National Public Radio, October 4, 2013. Web. January 9, 2014 "Study Shows 70% of Americans Take Prescription Drugs." CBS News. CBS Interactive Inc., June 20, 2013. Web. January 5, 2013Wren, Andrea. “The Consequences of Overdiagnosis.” Psychology Today 38.2 (2005): 20. BusinessSource Premier. Network. January 12 2014.