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It's not that people don't want to go to a doctor, but after a while people get to know their own issues pretty well, especially if they're recurring. There ar

It's not that people don't want to go to a doctor, but after a while people get to know their own issues pretty well, especially if they're recurring. There are many common things that happen to people that they can easily self diagnose from experience. They shouldn't need a doctor to go to the pharmacy and get medicine. It's not at all uncommon to go to the doc knowing exactly what he's going to do, exactly what he's going to say, and exactly what prescription he'll give you, why waste all that fucking time and money just so the guy in the white coat can tell me what I already know? I want to go to a doctor when I don't know what's wrong with me, not when I do.

Retric 17y ago
Assuming you know what's wrong you need to go to the doctor for: 1. Access to prescription drugs which are not safe. 2. Access to specialized equipment. 3. Access to highly skilled people to do something you can't do safely. If you break your leg you can make your own cast, but it's probably a bad idea. So it's mostly a question of prescription drugs and I think having gatekeepers for them is a good idea. PS: If it's really safe for you and society then you can buy it over the counter. Do you really think it's a good idea to change this?
- yummyfajitas 17y ago
  Various other countries do allow you to purchase various prescription drugs which are considered by the US to be unsafe. It doesn't cause any serious harm. For example, Iran does not have an epidemic of dying women due to OTC birth control.
  - Retric 17y ago
    There are a lot of prescription drugs and a lot of edge cases. I think the Pill is a prescription drug in the US because it can be used to have a chemical abortion which is a seperate issue. You can probably find a fairly large number of drugs that could become over the counter and every year many make that jump. However, antibiotics sould not fall into this category.
- Zak 17y ago
  If it's really safe for you and society then you can buy it over the counter. Do you really think it's a good idea to change this? Yes. If a drug is not safe for the user, it should come with a warning about the risks involved. Choosing whether or not to accept those risks to get the potential benefits of a drug is up to the individual. I'm more open to the idea of gatekeepers for drugs that can harm others. Antibiotics are the obvious example. Sure, require a prescription for antibiotics, but first let's get them out of animal feed.
- gnaritas 17y ago
  > 1. Access to prescription drugs which are not safe. Why? Seriously, all drugs should be OTC because it simply shouldn't be the governments job to protect me from myself. The government should have no say about what I choose or choose not to put in my own body. I can go to the store and pick up enough alcohol to drink myself to death in a matter of hours and that's OK, but pills require special treatment and protection? Bullshit. Drugs should be clearly labeled with warnings, side effects, all pertinent information a person needs to make a decision. The only exceptions would be things like antibiotics because there's a valid reason to restrict their use and it benefits everyone to do so. Doctors can still tell me what drug I should take, and in what dose, but they shouldn't be at all involved in my obtaining those drugs. If I go buy a bunch of morphine and overdose and kill myself, well... that's called natural selection, and it's a good thing. If you're really concerned about making sure people are informed, mandate that the pharmacist brief people of the issues. The very notion of prescription drugs is just absurd really, we've just gotten so accustomed to the nanny state that we don't notice just how absurd it is. Many family doctors are little more than state approved drug dealers these days. Patients know what they want, they know what to say to get them, and doctors are more than happy to write them, so long as their pockets are lined with regular and mostly unnecessary checkups to do nothing more than refill a prescription. Yes, many drugs are very dangerous and an overdose could easily kill you, guess what, so will an overdose of gasoline. So will an overdose of water, or diet pills, or hundreds of other OTC stuff. Things shouldn't be illegal because they're dangerous if you misuse them, that's not freedom. > 2. Access to specialized equipment. > 3. Access to highly skilled people to do something you can't do safely. Which are valid reasons to actually go see a doctor. I can't cat scan myself or operate on myself.
  - Retric 17y ago
    Most prescription drugs will not kill most people in normal use. However, when combined with other heath issues or other drugs they can kill you or damage your body. Which is why you hear "don't take this if you are taking nitrates as it could cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure." It takes a fucking lot of training to have any clue what's safe to take in what dosage once you start mixing a few drugs. Put all that stuff out on the shelf and tens of thousands of people will die every year. But hey, if you still think that's a good idea feel free to convince other people.

Retric 17y ago

Assuming you know what's wrong you need to go to the doctor for: 1. Access to prescription drugs which are not safe. 2. Access to specialized equipment. 3. Access to highly skilled people to do something you can't do safely. If you break your leg you can make your own cast, but it's probably a bad idea. So it's mostly a question of prescription drugs and I think having gatekeepers for them is a good idea. PS: If it's really safe for you and society then you can buy it over the counter. Do you really think it's a good idea to change this?

yummyfajitas 17y ago
Various other countries do allow you to purchase various prescription drugs which are considered by the US to be unsafe. It doesn't cause any serious harm. For example, Iran does not have an epidemic of dying women due to OTC birth control.
- Retric 17y ago
  There are a lot of prescription drugs and a lot of edge cases. I think the Pill is a prescription drug in the US because it can be used to have a chemical abortion which is a seperate issue. You can probably find a fairly large number of drugs that could become over the counter and every year many make that jump. However, antibiotics sould not fall into this category.
Zak 17y ago
If it's really safe for you and society then you can buy it over the counter. Do you really think it's a good idea to change this? Yes. If a drug is not safe for the user, it should come with a warning about the risks involved. Choosing whether or not to accept those risks to get the potential benefits of a drug is up to the individual. I'm more open to the idea of gatekeepers for drugs that can harm others. Antibiotics are the obvious example. Sure, require a prescription for antibiotics, but first let's get them out of animal feed.
gnaritas 17y ago
> 1. Access to prescription drugs which are not safe. Why? Seriously, all drugs should be OTC because it simply shouldn't be the governments job to protect me from myself. The government should have no say about what I choose or choose not to put in my own body. I can go to the store and pick up enough alcohol to drink myself to death in a matter of hours and that's OK, but pills require special treatment and protection? Bullshit. Drugs should be clearly labeled with warnings, side effects, all pertinent information a person needs to make a decision. The only exceptions would be things like antibiotics because there's a valid reason to restrict their use and it benefits everyone to do so. Doctors can still tell me what drug I should take, and in what dose, but they shouldn't be at all involved in my obtaining those drugs. If I go buy a bunch of morphine and overdose and kill myself, well... that's called natural selection, and it's a good thing. If you're really concerned about making sure people are informed, mandate that the pharmacist brief people of the issues. The very notion of prescription drugs is just absurd really, we've just gotten so accustomed to the nanny state that we don't notice just how absurd it is. Many family doctors are little more than state approved drug dealers these days. Patients know what they want, they know what to say to get them, and doctors are more than happy to write them, so long as their pockets are lined with regular and mostly unnecessary checkups to do nothing more than refill a prescription. Yes, many drugs are very dangerous and an overdose could easily kill you, guess what, so will an overdose of gasoline. So will an overdose of water, or diet pills, or hundreds of other OTC stuff. Things shouldn't be illegal because they're dangerous if you misuse them, that's not freedom. > 2. Access to specialized equipment. > 3. Access to highly skilled people to do something you can't do safely. Which are valid reasons to actually go see a doctor. I can't cat scan myself or operate on myself.
- Retric 17y ago
  Most prescription drugs will not kill most people in normal use. However, when combined with other heath issues or other drugs they can kill you or damage your body. Which is why you hear "don't take this if you are taking nitrates as it could cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure." It takes a fucking lot of training to have any clue what's safe to take in what dosage once you start mixing a few drugs. Put all that stuff out on the shelf and tens of thousands of people will die every year. But hey, if you still think that's a good idea feel free to convince other people.