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After Surgery in Germany, I Wanted Vicodin, Not Herbal Tea

nytimes.com

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Re: After Surgery in Germany, I Wanted Vicodin, Not Herbal Tea

#81

Post by foepys »

ggregoire wrote: post #39
chrisper wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it has more to do with how readily available medication is in the US (Supermarket).

I'm not sure it's a valid point since I can just enter in one of the 3 pharmacies near me and buy a box of aspirins for 2€. We don't have medications in supermarket but we have a LOT of pharmacies here (France).

It's still different. Needing to go to a specialized store with trained personnel to buy painkillers has a completely different appeal than just tossing bottles of painkillers into your cart next to milk and candy.

Re: After Surgery in Germany, I Wanted Vicodin, Not Herbal Tea

#82

Post by chrisper »

Coding_Cat wrote: post #54
chrisper wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it has more to do with how readily available medication is in the US (Supermarket).

Ibuprofen and the like are also available from the supermarket in most of Europe. Codeine and the like are not, as they're prescription only but it's not a big trip to go to a pharmacy anywhere.

I live in Europe now, but lived in the US before. The difference is that buying medications is part of weekly grocery shopping in the US more or less. It is also how it is advertised all over the place. Besides, many medications that are prescription here (or are just smaller doses) are available in large doses in the US in grocery stores.

Re: After Surgery in Germany, I Wanted Vicodin, Not Herbal Tea

#83

Post by nothis »

crystaln wrote: post #59

I appreciate that this article tells a story and let's the reader think about the meaning and impact, coming to their own conclusion. It's almost like the author is mocking American media for spoon feeding opinions.

I like the headline...

Re: After Surgery in Germany, I Wanted Vicodin, Not Herbal Tea

#85

Post by curiousgal »

>This, however, is not a story about the benefits of universal health care

Despite this phrase and the title ("wanted" as opposed to "needed") being technically accurate, you'd think the article is going to be the disadvantages of a universal healthcare system but it's not.

It's about nothing.

Just an entitled patient bugging her doctors to prescribe her Vicodin before her surgery even began and them not doing so because, as it tuned out, her biggest hurdle after the surgery was boredom and not pain.

Re: After Surgery in Germany, I Wanted Vicodin, Not Herbal Tea

#86

Post by rscho »

Quanttek wrote: post #28
Quzani-Berlin wrote: post #2

Hi, I read your article and many of your experiences are - sadly - the normal behaviour with pain and pain killers in Germany. In the south of Germany even more than up in the north (from my experiences). But there is hope... I would recommand that you search for a new doctor - in the best case a young doctor fresh out of the university. The reason is simple. Pain management have only recently become a major topic in…

> younger doctors understand more and more that pain means stress and stress make sick and is a negative influence to the healing process I hope you are wrong because I would hate so see anythign resembling the painkiller addiction wave in the US here in Germany. The doctor in the text is correct in saying that pain can be an important guide for your own healing process. Otherwise, you can easily overwork/overexert y…

The opiate prescription policy in Europe is currently absolutely not converging with US practices. Practitioners are instead looking into alternative means of pain control, such as hypnosis (which is less of a scam than one may think).

Re: After Surgery in Germany, I Wanted Vicodin, Not Herbal Tea

#87

Post by icantdrive55 »

zython wrote: post #27
maxxxxx wrote: post #11

"I took two ibuprofens that first day. In hindsight, I didn’t need them, but I felt like I should take something" I have noticed the need to "take something" with a lot of American friends when they have problem. It's almost like a reflex.

This make me think: Could this behaviour be influenced by US-american pharma corporations being allowed to run (TV-)ads on prescription medications ?

I don't know why you're being down-voted.

These commercials should be banned. It's the U.S., and one other country that allows them. All medical commercials should be banned. They are an embarrassment.

Re: After Surgery in Germany, I Wanted Vicodin, Not Herbal Tea

#88

Post by hitchhiker999 »

wendyjreichert wrote: post #75

I have no doubt that pills are overused, and Europe is a rather ahead of America in terms of natural remedies and a less pill-pushing approach. That said, doctors should take care: the only thing worse than overprescribing necessary medications is underprescribing them.

This is just a guess, but I would imagine (based on a glance at U.S. stats) over-prescribing accounts for a lot more pain and death than under-prescribing ever could?

Re: After Surgery in Germany, I Wanted Vicodin, Not Herbal Tea

#89

Post by g09980 »

Friend in the US had a benign type of surgery. The procedure carries minimal pain after the first 24 hours other than maybe aching (and my friend really had a pretty boring recovery). She was still given a bottle of probably 20+ pills of Oxycodone that fortunately went unused (later disposed.)

While my friend was responsible in her recovery, I wonder how many people medicate themselves just because.

Re: After Surgery in Germany, I Wanted Vicodin, Not Herbal Tea

#90

Post by Karnickel »

Barrin92 wrote: post #62
maxxxxx wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you buy Ibuprofen in stores or do you need a prescription? In the US most stores have a big aisle with painkillers.

In Germany you can buy it at a pharmacy, you generally can't obtain medicine at a normal store. Direct consumer advertisement of drugs is also illegal in Germany. (I think there's only 3 or 4 countries on the planet where this isn't the case)

On the other hand, at least in the cities there is a ton of pharmacies - sometimes even across the street form one another, and easily every few hundred meters along major routes. There are way too many. When I walk through downtown Nuremberg I walk past several of them, right on the main pedestrian-only street of the city. And they are all allowed to advertise in their shop windows. So that's some prime advertising space, right in the hard of the city. On my way to downtown, a twelve minute walk, I walk past four pharmacies if I take the route along the street (vs. the lake route, which is a park).

Also, they are allowed to advertise for things like cold medicine, when I still had a TV (log time ago, admittedly) I remember seeing lots and lots of such ads: "WICK MediNait cold medicinefor the night", list of ingredients: https://www.aponet.de/wissen/arzneimitteldatenbank/suchergeb... (active ingredients Paracetamol, doxylamine hydrogen succinate, ephedrine hemisulfate, Dextromethorphan hydrobromide-1-water)

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