3 ms·
> I argue that many medications are quite safe to take without supervision and using doctors as gatekeepers functions primarily to increase the billings genera
by shagie 4y ago
> I argue that many medications are quite safe to take without supervision and using doctors as gatekeepers functions primarily to increase the billings generated by sick people.
A may be safe. B may be safe. A + B may very well be deadly.
C may be safe, but in combination with grapefruit is ineffective.
D may be safe, but interactions with E and F need to be balanced and monitored to ensure that the body's systems don't get out of whack.
G may be safe, but it has recreational use (and abuse) possibilities.
H may be safe, but is a precursor to creating Z which is heavily regulated.
... and the list goes on.
Most drugs have a "this can go wrong" and with the prevalence of people taking whatever they find or people are talking about (see hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin for some widely popularized examples), I am hesitant to suggest that the common person is sufficiently informed about drugs to take that aspect of their medical care into their own hands without oversight.
- dllthomas 4y agoIn theory you can oversee without broadly disallowing.
- shagie 4y agoHow much of G and H are you going to let one person buy? How do you make sure that the person is coming in to have bloodwork done if they're on D, E, and F? If a person is buying A over the counter and you prescribe B - where is that check being done?
- gtop3 4y ago> I am hesitant to suggest that the common person is sufficiently informed about drugs to take that aspect of their medical care into their own hands without oversight. I generally agree that there are cases where prescription medications should be controlled. My argument is that too many medications are prescription. Several OTC medications are inappropriate to mix with other OTC medications, require monitoring with long term use, or have interactions with grapefruit. People make fatal decisions with OTC medications. Some OTC medications have recreational potential. These concerns are not unique to prescription medication. I am not persuaded by the argument that individuals are not capable of making their own medical decisions. A doctor can advise a patient which OTC medications to take, and this type of consultation will still be available. Pharmacists will also answer questions about OTC medications they sell. I think there is an ocean of difference between "Medical advise is available to you if you choose this treatment" and "Medical advise is required to even choose this treatment." We are using the later too frequently, and I suspect many want to keep it this way to drive up healthcare costs.
- Llamamoe 4y agoI've never had a doctor tell me what drugs are safe or unsafe to take with others, almost never had a doctor ask what drugs I already take. You grossly overestimate healthcare providers, and there are many things much more dangerous that people are just freely allowed to risk their lives doing.
- bsder 4y ago> I've never had a doctor tell me what drugs are safe or unsafe to take with others, almost never had a doctor ask what drugs I already take. The doctors in my system constantly are reviewing the drugs I'm taking. It helps that the computer system that they use actually captures the drugs I'm taking from all the doctors I see. Before a procedure, the surgeon even went over the supplements that my wife takes. I applaud that surgeon for going above and beyond the call of duty--my wife brought in two huge ziploc baggies of all the crap she takes. It can be annoying as sometimes it takes a couple rounds of "No, I'm not on that anymore" to actually pull the thing from the system record, but I actually approve of it overall. Healthcare quality varies.