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My friend had a cyst on the eyelid. His eye doctor changed 3 antibiotics for a period of 3 months. Didn't work. Finally he insisted the doctor to surgically dra
by enlightenedfool 11y ago
My friend had a cyst on the eyelid. His eye doctor changed 3 antibiotics for a period of 3 months. Didn't work. Finally he insisted the doctor to surgically drain it. That worked and it should have been done in the first place. The doctor should have known it. The whole medical system in the US is organized crime.
- et2o 11y agoYeah, this anecdote definitely proves that.
- rayiner 11y agoAntibiotics are cheap. A three month supply may well be cheaper than even simple surgical drainage.
- FireBeyond 11y agoThe doctor's obligation is not to "find the cheapest possible treatment" (especially one where the over prescription of generic antibiotics is more problematic than beneficial), especially if the patient is informed.
- rosser 11y agoIn the individual case, it's dubious to suggest that surgery is a less conservative option than antibiotics. Yes, antibiotics are woefully over-used (though the overwhelming majority of their use — something on the order of 80% — is in livestock), but the physician's obligation to their patients is to treat their presenting problem, and in the way that is least harmful. Typically, that's taken to mean more conservative approaches first.
- northern_lights 11y agoObviously. This one doctor erring on the conservative side and not immediately taking a sharp instrument to your friend's eyelid proves that all doctors are corrupt and/or stupid, and the whole system is a scam. Or maybe doctors generally know what they're doing and can, on average, perform their profession better than a random guy on the internet.
- enlightenedfool 11y agoI'm convinced it's a scam based on my own experiences in U.S.A and the third world. I got a throat infection in India. I went to the pharmacy, took antibiotics for $2. It's done. If that happens in the US, I'm forced to first visit the doctor, pay $250. Then pay some $30 for the antibiotic and even before that have to pay the insurance company hundreds of dollars anticipating these things. Another recent one is spine issue. I paid $4 for orthopedic consultation and $50 for MRI. Check what it costs in US. I have several such experiences. So I'm not a "random guy on the internet". I know what I'm talking about.
- KrustyKrabPizza 11y agoI can't speak about operational costs. However drugs in india are so cheap because India is the country where most generic drugs are manufactured. There is a 30 min documentary on YT about it called "India the Pharmacy of the World"". Very interesting to watch, it gives you a good history on pharma companies doing the chemistry equivalent of patent trolling that you see in the big consumer electronic & software companies
- pjc50 11y agoIt's a scam, but not because you didn't get your preferred treatment first time but because you're required to pay ridiculous amounts for the service in the first place. (The equivalent experience in England&Wales would be free, apart from $10 prescription charge for each prescription, which is waivable for quite a lot of categories of people with low income)