DRUGS:
Questions To Ask Your DoctorAre
you addicted to prescription drugs?
Drug
addiction is usually associated with illegal drugs. It is now possible to become
addicted to pharmaceutical drugs prescribed by your doctor. Doctors frequently
put people on drugs, and then they make no effort to help them solve he problem
that caused the need for a drug. This is a subtle and wicked kind of addiction.
 Over
the past years, and to an extreme recently, we have seen doctors, ours and those
of friends, prescribe drugs which are deadly. These doctors have one of two problems,
and these are the ONLY reasons for prescribing dangerous drugs:
|
1.
The doctor is not reading and keeping up on his profession. He is not reading
the Physician's Desk Reference on drugs, he is not attending conferences on drug
use, and he is not even reading the warning materials sent out with the drugs.
He is a lazy slob. He will kill people, and he may kill or maim you. It is very
hard to sue a doctor for mis-prescribing drugs because he can blame the drug company. OR 2.
The doctor knows very well what the hazards are to the drugs he prescribes, but
the drug manufacturers pay him a kick back for prescribing their products. Pfizer
is perhaps the most lucrative bribe based seller in this regard. So,
here are some questions to ask your doctor. If he cannot give you answers, or
if he will not quickly try to find out the answers, change doctors. If you refuse
to change doctors, at least have the grace to make funeral arrangements so your
kids do not have to do it in a panic. Question
One: "Doctor, do
you receive a kickback, or incentive payment, from anyone for prescribing this
drug?" If the answer is "yes", ask for another drug that is not
kick back based. Do not take any argument out of the doctor. He may lie and say
there is no other choice. I had a doctor, a Hindu who does not care if he ultimately
relieves your pain, tell me to stay on Cardura after I had a run away heart beat
attack on the stuff. By the way, Pfizer strikes again. I never went back to him
again. Question
Two: Doctor, is this
a new drug?" Always ask this question. The doctor will then tell you what
the drug is supposed to do and how safe it is supposed to be, but he does not
have a clue if he is telling the truth. Drug companies ALL have in-house doctors,
or doctors on their pay plan, who write reports on drugs and promote them to doctors.
Fully one third of all reports by doctors on drugs are generated by the drug company,
and the Journal of American Medicine and Lancet have published many of these without
asking questions. Just refuse new drugs. You are a guinea pig, for that drug is
not out of the "trials" format yet. New drugs are still not fully approved
by the FDA. Final analysis is done later. And, the FDA is corrupted by the drug
companies, in that, helpful FDA men are hired on to the drug companies after they
retire from the FDA. Question
Three: "Doctor,
what are the complications with this drug? What complications have you seen? What
are the interactions of this drug with other drugs." If the doctor says there
are no complications or interactions, he is a liar and will kill you. All drugs
have complications. Table salt and cinnamon have complications. Everything you
eat has complications. If the doctor quickly tells you what the complications
are for the drug in question, that is a good sign that he is really concerned
to do the right thing. If the benefits seem to outweigh the complications, go
ahead and try the drug. Interactions are the complications of the drug used with
other drugs. Ask him to rethink all your drugs, AND herbs you take, with that
drug. A good doctor will be happy to talk through all the things you take. Some
herbs are deadly when taken with certain drugs. CAUTION: If your doctor picks
up a reference book and reads for a while, do NOT assume he is dumb. There is
no way a doctor can remember everything about his profession. Indeed, it is a
good sign when a doctor checks a reference book while you wait. Question
Four: "Doctor,
is this drug made by Pfizer or one of its subsidiaries?" We have heard so
many ugly stories about Pfizer products that we believe they do not care one whit
if they kill you. Coumadin it the classic killer. It is rat poison, literally,
and aspirin will do just as well for almost all blood thinning situations. The
cash flow is the bottom line, and they are now based out of the USA where they
are harder to reach by the FDA. Question
Five: After you get
home, surf the Internet to see what health organizations are saying about the
drug. Sign on to sites who help doctors. The data may be hard to understand, but
if you read long enough, you will catch on if there are dangers with the drug.
If you cannot surf yourself, ask a savvy friend to do so for you. If you see some
really ugly news about the drug in question, print it out, and hand it to your
doctor. Ask for an opinion by him. Be sure the Web site is not selling herbs and
not some diddle head site where some abject fool is just griping. Look for sites
which inform the reader about health issues and do not sell anything. Look for
articles which quote ligitimate research projects and medical journals. A research
report by Dr. Green Beans is of no use. This takes some zeal, but it may save
your life. Question
Six: Ask your pharmacist
if he would take the drug in question, and tell him the other drugs and herbs
you are taking. Even if he does not know the answer, he has a computer network
link to which he subscribes, and he can bring up all the known facts on the drug
in a flash. Doctors almost never do this. It is VERY common for pharmacists to
know more about drug use than doctors. They are often the first ones to hear about
complications from their customers. Also, they are not paid by the drug companies
to lie and prevaricate in order to push some suspect drug. Indeed, they have the
highest incentive to tell the truth. Lastly, when you hand your prescription to
the pharmacist, watch his face. If he shows surprise, ask him what is bothering
him about the prescription. If he tries to pass it off, ask him not to cover for
something that is wrong. If he tells you something frightening about the drug
and using it, DO NOT go and quote him to the doctor-- just change doctors. If
you have a pharmacist who tells you things that might make trouble for him, guard
him very carefully. You NEED him as a friend. Question
Seven: Ask the pharmacist
if there is a generic version of the drug. The doctor will get his kick back,
and you will get a steak dinner out of the savings. Some generic drugs are very
much less than the brand name version. Also, for what it is worth, you may want
to cross the border into Mexico or Canada and see what the brand name drug costs
there. I have found the Mexican version to be as much as 80% lower in price. The
same drug company makes it. The instructions are in Spanish, so buy the first
dose in the USA so you have the literature to read.
If the doctor
does not give you straight answer, or if he belittles your concerns, run, run,
run. Find another doctor at once. My doctor in Arizona nearly killed me with Cardura
because the fool did not know the complications, or he was too greedy for the
kick back. The PA I went to next told me he had 3500 patients, many of them heart
troubled, and he had never prescribed Cardura once. He hated it. He also really
wanted to help me feel better and enjoy life. If your doctor is merely polite
but distracted and in a hurry, find a doctor who is personal and likes you. Anyone
who deals with the public should be able to like the people they serve. Now, if
your doctor runs you off, either you are about to die, or you are a brat and rude
and demanding. Be thoughtful about how you present these things so the doctor
has every opportunity to respond in a helpful manner. Do not show suspicion, even
it you have it. Just change doctors if you don't get straight answers, or if you
feel bullied. Let
me say this. If you want to take your Honda to an idiot who botches the work every
other time, go ahead. You will pay dearly for your misguided loyalty, but at least
the dumb fool will not send YOU to the mortuary. But, if, out of blind loyalty,
you stay with a doctor who cannot give straight answers, a doctor who belittles
your serious concerns, YOU are the idiot my friend. He is using you to enhance
his cash flow, and he does not care if you limp on through life half crippled,
cross eyed with complications, and die fifteen years before your time. Take
charge of your health. Photo
of pills by Ramberg MediaImages at Flickr VIDEO: Watch
the video here
BACK BACK
TO ENTRY PAGE OF THE JOURNAL |
