Could Taking Some Pharmaceutical Drugs be Sin?

[christine]

Moderation is the key. I also think taking perscription drugs, which have not been prescribed to "you" is wrong. I know many people that "trade or share" medication.
Each time I have had surgery, I have had to HIDE my pain medicine, from my husband.
We have Tricare so most medicine is free and so are DR. visits. I have seen my husband with back pain for 6 months, he refuses to go to the DR. BUT if there is one pain pill or motrin, in the house, he will eat it like candy. Mysteriously his pain comes and goes according to the availability of it.
I've had him get mad at me because I used them, and didn't "save" them for later (in case he needed it). I think it's wrong. If you are sick enough to need medicine, then GO TO THE DR.
Christine

 

[PJ]

Originally posted by Artimaeus:
I am all for the position that we should use as little as we can get by with but, and this is a very big but, sometimes the use of a drug is just so overwhelmingly beneficial to a person's wellbeing and does such a wonderful job of relieving symptoms that to deny them this relief would be cruel. There should not be a concept that ALL prescribed medications are sinful. It is not supported by scripture or common sense.

Agreed. The key word here is needed. When the drug is not needed, it should not be taken. Cheers to Helen's daughter for cutting that drug loose once it was not needed.

I've met people who cannot grasp the simple daily tasks of life without a prescription drug and I think they deserve a better quality of life. Their quality of life may never be as productive as ours, but much better than w/o the drug(s). Definitely true in Helen's children's case. Thanks for sharing, Helen ...

PJ

 

[Deacon]

Dr. Bob, I’m somewhat surprised that you present the position that there are certain classes of medicines that are sinful.
I know how you honor knowledge and education. Our modern pharmacy is a result of the application of knowledge gained through tenacious research and a multitude of medical trials. It’s a product of man’s taking dominion over the earth.

The natural/un-natural issue is unrelated to your opening thread comments. A product that is unnatural isn’t by definition un-Christian. Is Penicillin unnatural? How about the synthetic derivatives now produced through other than natural means? Are they unnatural? Arguments were once made that since one of the uses of antibiotics was the treatment of syphilis and other sexually transmitted diseases that it encouraged immoral behavior. But the problem lay with the individual and his behavior, not with the product treating the disease. The argument can continue however if you accept as true the notion that antibiotics allow the continued unacceptable behavior to continue undisciplined. I don’t accept this argument; God is able to discipline whoever he may.

I do see danger signs flashing brightly above some avenues research, particularly in the area of fetal stem-cell research. Once the research becomes productive and an application is made for the treatment of an illness then it will present a strong ethical dilemma for Christians—to use the product of the research that used fetal tissue or to allow disease and perhaps suffering to continue. I can only guess at the decisions many will make in ignorance.

As mentioned too, various abortion drugs that are specifically designed to perform that function (and no other) would also be considered wrong.

I specifically have a problem with the common use of birth control pills that prevent pregnancy by preventing the implantation of a viable fertilized embryo into the uterus.

Of course there are some abuses of the drugs Ritalin and Prozac. That in itself doesn’t make them bad. It does say something about the practitioner who prescribes them and about the sorry state of medical care offered to special needs individuals.

Rob

 

[Jim1999]

What amazes me is all the adverts on AMerican telly that directs people to tell or ask their doctor is so and so drug is good for them. I thought it was the doctor's duty to diagnose and prescribe as needed. Surely they are aware of the availability of drugs.

Sin? I think sometimes we have a warped sense of what sin is. Here I tend to agree with Dr. Bob, that natural medicines is the preference, but I am certainly not against the use of many modern drugs. Even placebos have their place when people "want" and "must have" a drug for just about anything and a placebo meets that "medical" need.

Cheers,

Jim

 

[MaryKay]

Abuse or not,if I am sick or in pain I am going to take medication and I wouldn't want to take herbal or something someone cooked up on the stove.How would you know how much of that stuff to take or even what to take. Sorry I am sticking with the Dr. and local drugstore....but now if you guys cook up something really good let me know. Mary Kay

 

[dianetavegia]

My husband has severe asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis, High B/P and has been unable to urinate without catherizing himself for over 10 years now. His bladder condition is unexplained. It's generally only seen in people who are completely paralyzed or have MS.

The medicines for the asthma have caused high cholesterol, a moon face, enlarged abdomen, cataracts and more. Some of the meds will raise his blood pressure. He takes meds for asthma and his B/P but not for the arthritis or bladder. (The bladder medicine did not work but had effects on the brain.)

I say all this to say that we should ONLY take medicine when it is REALLY necessary. All medicines have side effects. Some are much worse than others.

Diane

 

[truthsayer]

Prov 26
2. As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come.
Could a curse be our sicknesses?
Is there any relation to inherited sins to our current poor medical conditions as a nation.
Prov 17
22. A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.
Jer 30
13. There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines.

I find other verses in the old test. about medicine being used.Personaly I dont agree with the wide use of all the mind drugs,yes they are needed sometimes but we were created perfect.
I will have to find some scrips that I am thinking of about God will not cure you of the harm done by drugs (help me here if you can)
Why is it not more prevelant in the New Test?
Could it be there is a better way to beat sickness now that we have Jesus?
Sorry to get of track it just hit me.

 

[Graceforever]

Originally posted by Dr. Bob Griffin:
Question has come up on another thread about Ritalin or Prozac being "evil", condemned in Scripture as "pharmaceia" (sorcerer, drug dealer)

Obviously, I have strong opinions on this subject (since my wife is actively working to get Christians OFF these drugs). Would like to hear YOUR thinking?

Its really funny watching how everyone names sin…. Some will say its sinful to smoke, some say to drink a beer is sinful and some says thou shalt not take prescription drugs….. It’s like a person trying to jump an ocean…. Some might jump further out into the ocean than another (and this leads some to brag about their accomplishments), but it’s a pitiful attempt at the very least, compared to the size of the Ocean….

God is holy, holy, holy and we can never jump high enough, or long enough to reach perfection… I rest in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ… I try not to judge others as I find I’m judging myself….

Sure, there are brothers and sisters who are hooked on drugs, alcohol and other vices… I tend to think you can reach those people through love and truth.… Tell them your shortcomings and let them know that they’re not in the boat alone… That we are all susceptible to vices and that we are just as guilty in the eyes of God as they are…. Tell them that God died for those sins that are binding them, thus, they are free to serve God without guilt…. The more pressure you put on them to obey the law (while you’re doing the same), the more you will tighten the noose around their neck…. Love, as well as grace, is free…..

 

[Haruo]

Originally posted by Deacon:

Honestly Paul, that WAS a good thought!
Placebos are a form of deception, Placebos are used to trick the body into believeing it is being influenced by something stronger outside of it.

Placebos have an influence that is little understood but must be taken into account when doing drug trial studies.

Rob

I think this misstates the matter. Placebos do not "have an influence"; rather, they point up the physical power of human belief. "The power of positive thinking", if you will. They have no power in and of themselves, at least not if they are the inert, innocuous materials ("sugar pills" and the like) that they should properly be.

As for placebos being "a form of deception", to give a person a placebo while claiming to be giving them something else is deceptive, but to give them in the context of a proper clinical trial with appropriate disclosure to participants is not deceptive. Many researchers (more in the past than now, but probably still many today) have not behaved ethically in this regard, but that is the fault of the researchers, not of the placebos.

Haruo

 

[NarrowWay]

Why not go all the way and condemn modern medicine altogether? This discrimination against people who have mental illness is a throwback to the Middle Ages. Medication like Prozac can help people who have a problem with their neurotransmitters in their BRAIN. They are not demon possessed as one deacon in my church once told me. They have a physical deficiency every bit as much as peple who have to take insulin for diabetes.

Can drugs for depression be abused? Of course. Can drugs for other physical ailments be abused as well? Certainly. Just ask the people who are addicted to painkillers.

 

[NarrowWay]

Dr. Bob,

If your wife has a MD and has done research regaring the effect of antidepressants on people who have a problem with their neurotransmiters which causes them to be clinically depressed and has found that:

1) neurotransmiter malfunction has nothing to do with depression, or

2) Medications like Prozac don't have a positive effect on treating depression.

Then I would say she's qualified to work to get christians off antidepressants. I believe that to be really believable she must have been clinically depressed for at least 5 years. If all of these are true then she has the background to take this kind of a stand. If, on the other hand she thinks that depression is caused by demon possession or is "all in a person's head" I suggest that she demonstrate her believability by immediately swearing off all kinds of medication and resolve to treat all of her own physical problems through prayer.

 

[npetreley]

Originally posted by Dr. Bob Griffin:
But all you listed are natural REMEDIES, not MEDICATIONS. Big difference using herbs and foods and other natural sources rather than chemicals.

Not necessarily. Sometimes there's a very big difference, other times there isn't. Some medicines are simply natural substances that are refined and concentrated. Others have little relationship to a natural substance but produce the same results as one. For example, several things will increase the serotonin in your system (tryptophan from turkey, for one example) and that produces basically the same result as prozac. I'd rather eat turkey than take prozac, but it's hard to make a case for why prozac is inherently evil if you're eating turkey to get the same results.

 

[John Wells]

Alcohol = drug

Alcohol in a glass in the hand of Jesus = not a sin

Alcohol in a glass in the hand of an alcoholic = a sin

Drug . . . it all depends on how and for what purpose it's used!

In Christ,
John

 

[chargrove]

Hey here's a thought: if you need medicine take it. Somehow I really doubt God is keeping a pill count.

 

[Susan WNY]

I'd rather eat turkey than take prozac, but it's hard to make a case for why prozac is inherently evil if you're eating turkey to get the same results. [/QB]

True, but you'd have to eat a whole lotta torkeys to get the same effect!