quote:Originally posted by Theaca: They do have means of getting inhaled drugs into babies and young children, ak. I would think that those methods would also work on cats? There are probably some methods available you don't know about yet.
I know you always think everything should be otc, and the very thought always horrifies me. Based on the Very Dumb things I've seen patients do, even by well educated patients who just had one on one thorough explanations about their drugs from their doctors, I think having everything otc would be a total disaster.
Theaca, I'm sure you're right about alternative delivery means. I will look into it and talk to my vet. Also, the fact that medicine is expensive is sort of a different point entirely, and I do realize that. It's just that when you're scrounging the money for life-and-death meds, as quite a few people must do in our country, it makes every difficulty inherent in the system that much harder to deal with.
As for the OTC drugs, the population of doctors in this country, basically have all drugs available to them for their own use. Nobody oversees what drugs doctors prescribe for themselves, and for their families, do they? They are educated, and yet they are not all-knowing. How well do you think doctors, as a group, do when it comes to having totally free access to whatever prescription drugs they want? Should we make it a law that doctors have to have prescriptions from other doctors in order to buy drugs?
I just think doctors don't realize what a burden is it to others, because they don't have to live within those rules themselves. Have you ever had a urinary tract infection and had to wait 8 hours until the doctor's office opens before you could even get your prescription, let alone go to the pharmacy and get it filled?
(For instance, it's certainly mind-bogglingly stupid to let someone suffocate rather than give them a drug that they need, and claim that by so doing you're protecting them from themselves. We could argue that they should be at the emergency room instead of the pharmacy in this case, but not that withholding the drug and letting them die is the smartest approach.)
I do realize that People Do Stupid Things. I just don't think doctors can save us from that. Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Pharmacists DO have leeway on this. If a patient is standing there needing medication to live, they have options. They can sometimes give the patient a few days of medication to get by until the script is written. Or they can page the doctor. Doctor hears the story, they usually agree to the med right then and there. Or, they can call an ambulance. I believe there are some rules about pharmacists being required to give out regular insulin without a prescription in an emergency. I kept meaning to ask a pharmacist about that for more details.
Yes doctors are terrible about getting meds for themselves and not having to wait. I think of that as an unfortunate perk, along with working 80 plus hours a week and getting paged by the patients and pharmacies late at night when they suddenly realize they need medications. *lopsided grin*
Also doctors aren't really supposed to treat themselves, much less family members. Just yesterday I heard about a doctor who was on vacation with his wife. She had some problems, and he advised her to take an extra dose of her heart medication. She died as a result of that medication. Doctors take a risk when they do this sort of thing.
BTW, if a doctor writes scheduled drugs for himself such as pain pills or anxiety pills, he can be in BIG trouble.
Posts: 1014 | Registered: Jul 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Maybe we could have a separate class of people, those who take full responsibility for their own stupidity, and the way you become one is by studying material about various subjects, passing a test, and signing a legal document that says you give up the right to sue anyone if you get hurt. Thereafter you are exempt from all laws that protect you from yourself. It might be something we could elect to do when we're 25 years old or something. Just a thought.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Based on the Very Dumb things I've seen patients do, even by well educated patients who just had one on one thorough explanations about their drugs from their doctors, I think having everything otc would be a total disaster. 
