Speaking of medications, I just saw this article that says a study by a major health benefits company shows that we've finally reached the point where more than half of American adults and children (actually, among insured Americans, to be accurate) are taking at least one prescription medication for a chronic condition. Wow, including children? To me, that's a frightening percentage for various reasons.

There is a field of medical/health research that has never really taken off yet, and that is finding the underlying reasons for health disparities across societies. For example, many new immigrants (even the really poor ones) arrive in America pretty healthy since they tend to be young, but once in America, quickly develop the typical scourges of Americans like obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc. The offspring of these immigrants are no better off. We may have a more prosperous standard of living in the US, but is it "better"? It is hard to say sometimes, depending on how you look at it.

Anyway, back to the OP--that's a lot of Americans that should probably be thinking of medication preparedness!