Chicagoist: Doctor, Doctor, Gimme The News, I've Got A Bad Case Of Not Being Treated By You

JayDeeM

Sat, 05 Jan 2008 03:53:10 -0600

Um....why is the picture used for this story a picture of ecstacy pills? just curious....

ljpljpljp

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 23:05:26 -0600

forestcats...did you pull that out of your ass?

Mo

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 18:51:08 -0600

I would be very interested to know whether these docs that give placebos give them more to women than men....

Mo

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 18:46:51 -0600

wait, are patients paying for placebos, or are these placebos just being handed out like samples? Because I better not be paying for sugar pills! It is true that for placebos to work, the patient can't know they are placebos; therefore, that does go against the informed consent rule. I guess that would be the informed consent to refuse treatment?? Prescribing antibiotics for viruses is a terrible idea. I've had doctors tell me (after I stated this fact) that it was for "secondary infections." If a doctor tells me it's a cold, I will refuse antibiotics. But if this practice continues, giving placebos to mollify patients, those doctors better damn well be sure there is really nothing wrong. Because if there really is an illness and the doc doesn't do anything, and it gets worse for the wait, there will be even more lawsuits being filed. So, uh, I guess everyone ought to save at least one pill for testing if you are in doubt... (unless it's an antibiotic for an infection you're pretty sure you have...then you need to take them all!!!)

forestcats

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 18:05:02 -0600

Considering how people treat doctors and file complaints to their insurance company in excessive numbers when they are NOT given drugs. What is a physician supposed to do? "To do no harm" is the vow. Lets see Medicare just dropped payments by 5% this month and will decrease them by 40% over the next 4 years. How many people stay in a career that keeps getting pay cuts, more paper work wher it takes 20 minutes of paper after seeing a patient for 6 minutes, and more frivilous law suits? Lets NOT talk about the direct advertising by all the new designer drugs that do the VERY same thing that it's competitor does for thrice the price. Are vitimins placebos when they alieviate the issue? Sugar pills or chalk are true placebo for a study. What about the ethics of 'journalists' who only gift one critical side of a story? Where is the obligation to report facts?

sarahmazing

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 17:54:49 -0600

The last time I went to the doctor thinking I had an ungodly amount of infections in my head, my doctor told me that I had the "killer cold." I would have much preferred getting a prescription for vitamins.

shameshameboy

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 17:45:41 -0600

Mis-prescribing antibiotics aside, I feel for the doctors in this case. Faced with TV ads exhorting viewers to "ask your doctor about Fret-It-All" and the widespread of habit of Googling symptoms in pursuit of self-diagnosis, it can't be easy dealing with patients who insist they have the wasting disease of the week.

Tower18

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 17:28:44 -0600

I'm down with using placebos, but prescribing REAL medication inappropriately is BS.

whymustiregister

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 17:07:37 -0600

Totally. Placebos work. Try 60mg of Placebonix today.

whymustiregister

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 17:07:26 -0600

Totally. Placebos work. Try 60mg of Placebonix today.

mindylou

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 16:59:20 -0600

i think, if i were a doctor, i'd do that.