Over-prescription starts at home…
Toward a rational View of Society: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 , 9, 10 & 11
I write this against a backdrop of doctors’ practice in UK, which extends in the US to opiods at epidemic scales — I witnessed this firsthand at Pal’s care (not their real name) — but in the UK it’s known that patients shop around until doctors get them meds they seek. And in US pharmaceutical companies push doctors into ‘helping’ vulnerable patients through their drug sale promotions.
Update: Jessica Wapner’s excellent review of the US opioid crisis: Meet the ‘Hillbilly Lawyer’ Fighting to Take Down Big Pharma (Inside the massive lawsuit that seeks to assign blame — and financial penalties — for the opioid epidemic)
Panic Saturday ’cause Pal had ‘a fever’. Did he really? His cheeks were rosy (they often are, due to his high blood pressure), he had an extra blanket on a mild spring day (he’s always cold and unseasonable weather is confusing), and when his partner visited, they first took the extra cover off then took his temperature… So while 38°C / 100°F is high, it is not a fever!
A subsequent visit to the doctor to appease Pal didn’t help much: they prescribed antibiotics as a matter of course in 5 min. flat… And later on at the pharmacy, they hand over no less than 4 boxes of antibiotics, no questions asked!
At issue is, however, the fact that those meds were given regardless of whether that fever had abated or not. This is a perfect illustration of the broader issue: over-medication starts at home, when carers have neither info nor support.
And that in turn comes from the fact that there are generally no effective instruments to help individuals with what illness brings up. Pal and partner are both tired, and carried all their life the burden of being isolated refugees. My hunch is that they may suffer of un-diagnosed depression. And they jokingly admit that when the partner say “Pal’s unwell”, in fact they mean “I’m unwell”. In other words the care is self-referential. And as refugees where the country doctor was “it”, they don’t seek alternate help such as at the pharmacy or the local community care center. In other words there is no clarity around symptoms, the medical establishment doesn’t help in its haste, and the pair doesn’t seek the psychological help out of their situation.
So please, please:
- check with doctors and carers whether a prescription is necessary
- attend to the patient’s needs first, rather than those of the carers
- seek assistance for carers in order to help them assist the patient
- find groups and support so that all create sustainable care together
