Earlier quoted context omitted.
On your first visit or every visit thereafter? I think the issue is the overhead of unecessary repeat visits.
Every visit thereafter.
Not sure how your anecdata is any more or less valid than mine...
U.S. to make More Drugs Easily Available, Cutting Role Doctors Play
251–260 of 308 posts
Re: U.S. to make More Drugs Easily Available, Cutting Role Doctors Play
#252I live in a country where this scheme is already the norm (Saudi Arabia) and I can say that while it's not necessarily ideal, I much prefer it to the alternative. It plugs some seriously annoying holes in the healthcare experience and frees up doctors' time for more patients. As it is, the only medications that require a prescription to buy in Saudi are psychotropic ones, narcotics, and most recently, antibiotics. Th…
I’m not I agree. The first reason is that many medications carry significant risks. For instance you mention insulin. For someone already prescribed insulin, yes it should be easy to access in case they should be able to get more (and that is the purpose of a repeat prescription). However, to provide insulin over the counter to someone never previously prescribed it could be incredibly dangerous, and indeed fatal. Th…
A desperate person without money to pay for Drs to get prescriptions will order from mexico or use veterinarian medication (true story). If those two options are not available the person will suffer in agony.
Preventing people from getting the medication they need is a terrible idea.
Re: U.S. to make More Drugs Easily Available, Cutting Role Doctors Play
#253Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’m not I agree. The first reason is that many medications carry significant risks. For instance you mention insulin. For someone already prescribed insulin, yes it should be easy to access in case they should be able to get more (and that is the purpose of a repeat prescription). However, to provide insulin over the counter to someone never previously prescribed it could be incredibly dangerous, and indeed fatal. Th…
A desperate person without money to pay for Drs to get prescriptions will order from mexico or use veterinarian medication (true story). If those two options are not available the person will suffer in agony. Preventing people from getting the medication they need is a terrible idea.
I am based in the UK, and as such my opinions are based towards a national health service free at the point of use.
I am against a system lacking free health care for reasons such as this.
Re: U.S. to make More Drugs Easily Available, Cutting Role Doctors Play
#254I'm always struck by the intensity with which some HN folks hate their doc - reminded of this by the number of comments invoking conspiracy theories about docs scheduling extra appointments to bill more or push more generic drugs. Perhaps obvious but perhaps not: in the US and most EU countries I'm aware of, you can choose a new doc. You can shop around. Despite the flaws in online reviews, just as with Amazon, you c…
I suffered for almost 15 years with something that was supposed to be easy to fix. The medical industry incompetence and exploitation is not limited to a country. The problem is world wide.
Re: U.S. to make More Drugs Easily Available, Cutting Role Doctors Play
#255I live in a country where this scheme is already the norm (Saudi Arabia) and I can say that while it's not necessarily ideal, I much prefer it to the alternative. It plugs some seriously annoying holes in the healthcare experience and frees up doctors' time for more patients. As it is, the only medications that require a prescription to buy in Saudi are psychotropic ones, narcotics, and most recently, antibiotics. Th…
“ And I think they should remain so, because from what I've seen the damage from misusing those drugs against pharmacists' advice is far less than the damage from going without them due to the difficulties encountered in seeing a doctor.”
When people start self prescribing antibiotics even for minor stuff, it’s not a problem because of the minor risks to them, but because of the major risk to the entire society. We are seeing more and more antibiotic resistance germs and if we don’t collectively work to reduce antibiotic usage we end up exasperating the issue.
Re: U.S. to make More Drugs Easily Available, Cutting Role Doctors Play
#256I live in a country where this scheme is already the norm (Saudi Arabia) and I can say that while it's not necessarily ideal, I much prefer it to the alternative. It plugs some seriously annoying holes in the healthcare experience and frees up doctors' time for more patients. As it is, the only medications that require a prescription to buy in Saudi are psychotropic ones, narcotics, and most recently, antibiotics. Th…
Do you guys also allow drug advertisements? The only problem I see is our drug producers here using advertising to push people into buying and using drugs that they really shouldn't be using and inadvertently causing themselves a myriad of additional health problems. Im 100% for people being able to use whatever drug they wish, provided that they actually know what they are taking and what it does. Any half decent advertiser though would leave that as an open-ended as legally possibly interpretation in order to drive sales though.
Re: U.S. to make More Drugs Easily Available, Cutting Role Doctors Play
#257There are better ways to go about this. As others have noted, there must be a mechanism for a continual prescription to be easily filled, e.g. insulin, metformin, etc. I could see a long term prescription that has to be renewed each year and is good at any pharmacy. For the short term prescriptions though, cutting the doctor out of it makes people much more susceptible to marketing (instead of 'ask your doctor if you…
I'd also be concerned it might exacerbate the opioid epidemic.
... because physician prescribing did so much to prevent that epidemic?
Not trying to be snarky--I understand the argument--just pointing out how absurd that seems to be to some.
Re: U.S. to make More Drugs Easily Available, Cutting Role Doctors Play
#258> Patients could answer questions on a mobile-phone app to help determine whether they should be able to access a medication without a prescription. The primary issue I am concerned with is self ownership of my body, and the freedom to choose for myself which drugs I will consume. Transferring the permission process from a human medical professional to an algorithmic goverment agent does not give me anymore of what I…
It's a step in the right direction. Doctors' stranglehold on pharmaceuticals won't disappear overnight.
I think it's a step in the wrong direction. The authority of approving drug use is moving from private citizens (doctors) to the government. A step in the right direction would be making more drugs otc.
Re: U.S. to make More Drugs Easily Available, Cutting Role Doctors Play
#259In China, you can't even buy loperamide. I think, they think that you can get high on it if you eat a bucket load of it
Re: U.S. to make More Drugs Easily Available, Cutting Role Doctors Play
#260> Patients could answer questions on a mobile-phone app to help determine whether they should be able to access a medication without a prescription. The primary issue I am concerned with is self ownership of my body, and the freedom to choose for myself which drugs I will consume. Transferring the permission process from a human medical professional to an algorithmic goverment agent does not give me anymore of what I…
A permission process seems inextricable from a system in which there are regulations. But algorithmic agent would theoretically make approved drugs more accessible. The expense and time of a doctor visit is enough friction to stop people from getting drugs they may find beneficial.
Recreational Cannabis has lots of regulations, and the only permission needed is a legal id and being an adult in several states.
My goal isn't to reduce friction for accessing medicine. A person would be a fool to not jump through the hoops required to gain access to life improving medications. The low cost of a quarterly doctor's visit for a continuous prescription is well worth the benefits a modern pharmaceutical can provide.
My goal is to have ownership of my body. It's a personal insult that I even have to ask permission.