The public trust has been broken over and over again. In recent months we have been informed that our doctors have been prescribing, as well as treating us with medicines that are dangerous to the point of being deadly.
One recent network news show reported that studies indicated a blood clotting medication was deadly for up to a 1000 people a month and has only recently been taken off the market. Expensive and with numerous side effects this pharmaceutical product could easily have been replaced by cheaper and equally effective products that have not shown such deadly side effects.
In the United States we have lost faith in the FDA, the Federal Food and Drug Administration has lead us to believe that products are tested for safety. Only recently we have been informed on national network television that they actually test the product for whether it seems to be effective. Such as a pain reliever would relieve pain and a blood clot inhibitor would prevent clots from forming.
The sad truth is safety isn't the primary focus. Perhaps the drug has a multitude of negative side effects known even before the product is sold to our medical professionals. The medical professionals are duped as much as the public by slick ad campaigns and well-trained sales reps. Medical Professionals are wined, dined and sold with high tech pitches. They buy into the latest miracle and start writing prescriptions or put the product in use in their clinics and hospitals. Sometimes it is years before anyone notices the negative effects of a medication.
Profits not conscious rule in the corporate pharmaceutical industry it seems. People, not profits, should be the most important reason for developing medications and drugs. Without our own watchdogs we would no doubt be left to think these medications are working just fine even though the truth is they are killing and harming many people. That is a sad irony.
In this country we raise hell over how many soldiers die in a war each week, each month, each year. Yet the statistics show we are in far more danger just going to the local hospital for a procedure than the soldiers are in. They have better odds many times than we do, plus they volunteered to be soldiers; we think we are going to be made well or better when we trust our doctors and hospitals to make sure the drugs and medicines they use and prescribe are safe.
Always read the fine print, I fear many doctors don't, on each and every prescription you are given. Ask about drug interactions, it is wise to keep a list of your medications in case you have an emergency or use different pharmacies or prescription plans.
Be pro-active in your treatment. If you develop any unusual side effects or have any different symptoms after taking a new medication, let your doctor know immediately and make sure it is noted in your file. You may be surprised to know that over the counter medications can be dangerous as well read and understand the fine print on over the counter remedies.
Your life depends on your knowledge are you willing to trust without question a doctor so over worked and over scheduled that he barely has 10 minutes for your visit? Do you really think he takes time to research every medication he prescribes for every patient he sees day in day out all year long? Once again the word irony comes to mind. We want to trust our medical professionals but do we dare trust them with our lives? Think long and hard before you answer that question.
