Beware of Drug Sales - yes or no?

Cherry's essay is both timely and provocative; more than ever before, Americans are looking to the drug industry for quick solutions to every conceivable problem. The problem is, are they paying a bigger price than just the dollars it takes to get the medicine?
Cherry does a good job of bringing up an important issue - Americans are taking too many drugs and it is harming their health. This brings up another issue: exactly who is ultimately responsible for a person's health - the drug companies, the doctor or the individual patient? Ultimately, the patient must be responsible for his own health. It is not healthy or wise for him to be passive about his own health.
An idea also not found in the essay is the question of why drug companies are so successful in their marketing campaigns. One reason is because our society is so obsessed with quick fixes to everything and does not tolerate any discomfort or lack of perfection.
Now, I do not think that drug companies should be unable to spread awareness of their product through advertising. The drug companies cannot educate everyone on the risks of their drug in 30 seconds and cannot be expected to do so. Also, there are some limits to whether or not a doctor can tell if a patient is genuinely experiencing symptoms or if it is all in his head.
Here are the responsibilities I think each party has. The drug companies should provide accurate information about their product to doctors and also to patients who ask for more information. Doctors should be educated on the benefits and risks of drugs so that they can provide their patients with accurate information, and should know exactly what a drug is designed to treat. They should be honest with their patients about the dangers of any drug, and seek to determine if the benefit would outweigh the risks. However, as long as accurate information is made available to the patient, and doctors are not prescribing drugs to people without symptoms, I believe that the patient should have the ultimate decision and responsibility for what is put into their own body.