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Yes, I believe that the U.S. is a drug-focused society.
I am 64 and not on ANY medication (knock wood). I would not think that this is so unusual except when I went to a new dentist about 18 months ago, when I was 63, and after filling out the new patient form, the dental hygienist asked me what drugs I used because I had written 'None' on the form. I said, "None." She looked at me very skeptically and asked, "Are you sure?" I said that of course I was sure! She took my blood pressure (108/68), and then the dentist came in and HE questioned me, which resulted in an exact duplicate of the conversation I just had with the hygienist.
The point is why would medical professional assume that an over-60 healthy (not too thin, not too fat) woman with a normal blood pressure just "had" to be on some kind of medication?!
Last edited by katharsis; 07-11-2018 at 11:32 AM..
This is a little different than a "conspiracy theory," where actors are all in agreement about some political narrative of an event - the issue of drug companies selling treatments to doctors is actual day-to-day reality. The part that you might think makes it a "conspiracy," is that drug companies and doctors are being criticized. Criticism is different than conspiracy.
Im 70, and was in the hospital last yr for 12 hours for a sudden onset bladder infection. The ER wasnt concerned about the bladder infection but went off the deep end over my wbc even though I felt fine and didnt have a temp. So they admitted me against my better judgement. After I was moved upstairs, the nurse comes in to take vitals and ask questions. She of course wants to know what medications I take. I say Vit C. She says how are are you and you only take vitC? Yup. She starts laughing and says OMG a totally normal person! I love you! And starts laughing some more. I say I guess you dont see very many like me? She says, You are so rare. Everyone is on drugs nowadays”
That says it all. That something is deeply wrong with modern medicine.
I did not tell the entire story of that Employment Physical, and the other reactions of that NP to my Questionnaire. Who is you PCP? Don't have one. My OB in 1983? When was the date of your last complete (never by today's standards) physical? Again in 1983.
Tons of questions about menstrual cycles and pregnancies. Irrelevant for a post menopausal woman. Line through all those, as well. Date of last Mammogram. Never.
I suppose that NP was furious over my answers long before the pages of medications taken. Besides screaming about the lack of medications, she also starting yelling about Public School Districts should mandate COMPLETE PHYSICALS (soup to nuts?lol) of all staff members. She probably would have had a nervous breakdown if she knew how many vaccines I have had and the date of my last one!
Wow, what an eye opening post. Thanks for sharing. That kind of reaction shows how their minds work, and that NP adds up to a big zero on the human scale.
Both myself, and the teen's Mom, refused to have the NP examine us. We demanded an MD examine us. He apologized to us for that Nurse's unprofessional behavior. She had no right to scream at us.
This is a little different than a "conspiracy theory," where actors are all in agreement about some political narrative of an event - the issue of drug companies selling treatments to doctors is actual day-to-day reality. The part that you might think makes it a "conspiracy," is that drug companies and doctors are being criticized. Criticism is different than conspiracy.
For those of you that did not read the article in the OP, I suspect some may not have bothered, I will include an excerpt. This is no theory, these are facts. People are free to draw their own conclusions.
Quote:
There’s a substantial body of medical literature dating back to the early ’90s about the practice known as “disease mongering.” Pharmaceutical companies regularly pathologize everyday experiences, convince doctors that they are serious problems, tell a hypochondriacal public it needs help and offers the cure: a new drug. Against the onslaught of billions of dollars in marketing campaigns each year, however, researchers’ warnings about these tactics have gone largely unheeded.
To be clear: Pharmacology has helped countless people recover from illness or lead more productive lives. But the number of patients receiving any given drug is often greater than those who would benefit from it, and often includes people it could harm.
The United States was still the largest single pharmaceutical market in 2017, generating more than $450 billion of revenue. In contrast, all of Europe accounted for roughly $214 billion. U.S. pharmaceutical spending alone is double the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average. According to the Mayo Clinic, nearly 70 percent of Americans take at least one prescription drug.
Adriane Fugh-Berman, a professor of pharmacology at Georgetown University Medical Center, said the pharmaceutical industry medicalizes normal life by positing that a vague, highly relatable, everyday condition is symptomatic of a newly invented disease. In other cases, pharma exaggerates the prevalence or severity of an existing condition to entice more customers.
“Marketing for a drug can start seven to 10 years before they go on the market. Because it’s illegal to promote a drug before it goes on the market, what they’re promoting is the disease. That’s not illegal to do because there’s no regulation on creating diseases,” Fugh-Berman told Yahoo News.
Lisa Schwartz and Steven Woloshin, co-directors of the Center for Medicine and Media at Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, said disease-awareness campaigns may seem caring or educational but are often just marketing in disguise. The campaigns often follow three basic steps: lower the bar for diagnosis, raise the stakes so people want to get tested and spin the evidence about a drug’s benefits and risks. These steps were seen in campaigns on testosterone deficiency, bipolar disorder and restless leg syndrome.
Yes, I believe that the U.S. is a drug-focused society.
I am 64 and not on ANY medication (knock wood). I would not think that this is so unusual except when I went to a new dentist about 18 months ago, when I was 63, and after filling out the new patient form, the dental hygienist asked me what drugs I used because I had written 'None' on the form. I said, "None." She looked at me very skeptically and asked, "Are you sure?" I said that of course I was sure! She took my blood pressure (108/68), and then the dentist came in and HE questioned me, which resulted in an exact duplicate of the conversation I just had with the hygienist.
The point is why would medical professional assume that an over-60 healthy (not too thin, not too fat) woman with a normal blood pressure just "had" to be on some kind of medication?!
70% of Americans under the age of 65 use one to four medications daily according to statistics. Over 65 and the percentage goes up to 90%. I wonder what the percentage of over 65's who take no medications is? Less than 1%?
That dental practice just confirms the statistics.
Last night I was watching "Married at First Sight" on Lifetime (I know ), and almost every ad was encouragement to get one drug or another ("Ask your doctor . . .") - the one that was over-the-top called out "BabyBoomers" (big market) saying: "One out of 30 Babyboomers has Hep C but doesn't know it!"
The solution is for every BabyBoomer to "Ask your doctor for a bloodtest," as it's the only way to determine who has it!
Brilliant marketing! Totally appealing to fear . . .
I wonder what doctors think about all of these "Ask your doctor to prescribe this or that or order this or that test?" The silence is deafening.
Years ago when all the hep B nonsense was coming out, my gynecologist was furious he had to waste time testing and then calling everyone. He said 90% of pts have it and it usually amounts to nothing. Women who have yearly pap smears have ZERO to worry about because the pap smear will provide more info than a hep B test. Its meaningless since so many people test positive. It cannot be used to indicate anything. I think the testing was used to scare women ... OMG I'm positive!!!! so then when they have kids they will vaccinate.
He was one doc that had a clue.
I had another doc tell me that when they were pushing the tetanus vaccine about 10 years ago that it also contained whooping cough. That little tidbit was never really publicized. Most people who got the tetanus shot had no clue it also contained a whooping cough vaccine. And that's when the outbreaks of whooping cough started ... but nothing to see here, just a coincidence.
Did you know that the term COPD was picked by big pharm? They wanted to market the same drugs for several lung problems. They do that kind of stuff all the time.
I knew a man who went to the ER dozens of times and they said he had an anxiety disorder. After several years a doctor finally figured out it was his thyroid. By that time, he had permanent brain damage. He had the behavior of a 12 year old. This man owned his own business and was very successful before the problems.
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Besides screaming about the lack of medications, she also starting yelling about Public School Districts should mandate COMPLETE PHYSICALS (soup to nuts?lol) of all staff members. She probably would have had a nervous breakdown if she knew how many vaccines I have had and the date of my last one!
), and almost every ad was encouragement to get one drug or another ("Ask your doctor . . .") - the one that was over-the-top called out "BabyBoomers" (big market) saying: "One out of 30 Babyboomers has Hep C but doesn't know it!" 
