Most of you know that I rarely recommend pharmaceuticals, and in fact my mission is to transform the existing medical paradigm from one addicted to pharmaceuticals, surgeries and other methods that only conceal or remove specific symptoms -- with morbid results to our health and economy -- to one focused on treating and preventing the underlying causes.

Occasionally, though, some pharmaceuticals are necessary, and though I am a physician focused on natural health and wellness I do sometimes prescribe drugs to patients in these cases. Still, what bothers me almost as much as the extreme over-prescription of pharmaceuticals is the ridiculously inflated prices the drug companies charge people here in the United States.

These drug prices are hyper-inflated for one reason alone: drug company greed. (And if you at all buy the drug company’s line that the prices are "necessary" for research and development, read "Spin and the Pharmaceutical Industry " right now to unravel that spin.)

The outrageous prices Americans pay don’t just burn you on a personal level -- these prices have everything to do with the sky-high and still rising health insurance costs for individuals and companies. Because businesses must dedicate ever-increasing amounts of their finances to rising insurance costs driven in large part by pharmaceuticals’ exorbitant prices, it affects our economy -- and you -- at nearly every turn.

Just like you on a personal level, if companies must dole out this ever-increasing money for drug-based healthcare that is less capital they can invest in real growth areas. In the big picture, that means U.S. growth and expansion is hampered, and so is our economy. Did you know even your car costs much more because of drug-company greed, for example?

The hyper-inflated drug prices affect us all in many ways, in other words. But there are concrete steps you can take NOW to combat their greed, save yourself loads of money, and improve your health so you can avoid unnecessary drugs in the first place.

The 4 Steps to Reduce Your Pharmaceutical Expenses Now

1. Take charge of your own health now instead of handing it over to the drug companies. How do you do that? Well, my free e-newsletter -- which now reaches nearly 200,000 subscribers -- is entirely devoted to enabling you to do that, so for starters subscribe to my free e-newsletter now, then:

2. Once and for all, commit to adopting a diet that is truly healthy for you, and to optimizing your emotional health. These two factors -- the foods you put into your body and your emotional well-being -- have absolutely everything to do with building your immune system so you can prevent disease and premature aging and optimize your weight so you can avoid unnecessary pharmaceuticals.

   Look at it this way: most drugs are merely patchwork, meant to make things "okay" temporarily as your underlying structure continues to degrade. A truly healthy diet and emotional wellness management, however, are what builds and solidifies your underlying structure, so you can avoid all the cracks (the symptoms) that drugs patch over in the first place.

   Which brings me to another very high recommendation to you: read my book presenting the entire dietary and health program that took me over two decades to develop and has literally helped tens of thousands of patients at my respected clinic, The Optimal Wellness Center, recover from disease, optimize their weight, increase their daily energy and live longer.

   As you’ll see, this book costs considerably less than the money you will spend on many single prescriptions but I am guaranteeing (for life, as you will read) that the straightforward but profoundly effective program in my book will improve your health dramatically, so you can avoid illness and therefore drugs in the first place. In other words, your small investment in my new book will save you thousands of dollars or more in drug and healthcare costs over the course of your life ... not to mention improving the quality and length of your life.

   Plus, your small investment will do something more: ALL OF MY PROFITS FOR MY NEW BOOK ARE GOING TO A NEW NON-PROFIT HEALTH ASSOCIATION that, beginning in 2004, will work toward shifting the healthcare paradigm in the U.S. and then beyond away from the drug/surgery quick-fix model and to a real healthcare system focused on prevention, real cure, and wellness. So read more about Dr. Mercola's Total Health Program and The No-Grain Diet now.

3. If you have to use drugs as a temporary Band-Aid then avoid paying the high U.S. prices and get all your prescriptions at Canadian drug prices, safely and securely. I have researched this, and this drug prescription website is an exceptionally secure, easy-to-use site for your prescription fulfillment, and it offers prescription drugs for up to 80% less than you will pay here in the U.S.!

This site, FillMyScripts, ships to all 50 U.S. states (plus Canada), and is staffed by physicians and pharmacists who will review your prescription and even follow up with your physician if necessary. (Please be careful about other sites that aren’t reputable, that don’t have real experts on staff, and that don’t require prescriptions!) FillMyScripts offers both brand name and generic drugs that are FDA equivalent to the drugs you’ll get in the U.S. (and are made by the same companies making them here), and again you’ll pay a fraction of the cost.

They offer a very wide range of pharmaceuticals, and also offer free quotes on your prescription, so if you really need a prescription and are tired of being robbed by the drug makers with their outrageous prices here in the U.S., I highly recommend you check out this money-saving site.

4. This one is simple: bookmark this page using your browser. It’s a good reminder of the steps you should be taking to abandon the excess use of pharmaceuticals plaguing our health and economy, and of course it is a convenient reminder of where to go if you do need to fulfill a prescription but don’t want to be robbed anymore.

If you think this article could be useful to family, friends or anyone else you care about, please also , as it can help them save their money and their health.