31–40 of 438 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would personally rather be involved in the decision making process related to my very existence rather than just told what to do.
I mean, I agree with this but also feel that pharmaceutical companies should not be advertising directly to the public.
Sounds like Google Scholar saved the author from being swindled into spending $400 by their dentist. The old thing to do was to get a second opinions. I wonder how that would have fared comparatively in this case.
Is it the place of online platforms to filter out misinformation?
Why are dentists so scammy? In Norway I've seen documentaries about them sending the same people to multiple dentists, and some of them receive wildly different advice. Some of that can be ascribed to some being in the school of pro-active, so they want to fix your teeth at the first glance of issues. But in the end, most of the things being quoted were unnecessary. They all seemed very intent on removing wisdom teet…
"Gjessing visited eight dentists.
* Five found no holes.
* One found a hole.
* One found two holes.
* One found three holes.
* Three removed tartar.
* One recommended brace for 2500 kroner and a new appointment.
...
Memo visited six dentists.
* Three thought everything looked good.
* Two recommended replacing fillings.
* One found two holes and said they had to be fixed quickly.
* One took a panoramic x-ray."
I think of it kinda like a car wash. You can pay extra for the fancy spray on waxes or you can just get a basic wash. How much does wax quickly sprayed on by a machine do for your car in the long run? Not much. But it makes you feel like you're taking care of your ride. Sub in teeth (a part of the body) for a car and they can charge almost whatever they like for shining bright lights in your pie hole.
> In the pre-Szaszian era, medicine was something that happened to you. You would put your health in your doctor's hands and they would unilaterally decide your course of treatment. But in today's patient-centered world, doctors are more like consultants To be honest I've only seen this level of "patient-centered" stuff in the US. Never heard the phrase "Ask your doctor about xy" anywhere but on US TV. Sometimes pret…
I think it's because the US is one of the few (only??) countries to allow advertisements for prescription drugs.
It's hilariously bad, it pulls misleading info out of context. It is probably responsible for more than zero deaths worldwide.
Why are dentists so scammy? In Norway I've seen documentaries about them sending the same people to multiple dentists, and some of them receive wildly different advice. Some of that can be ascribed to some being in the school of pro-active, so they want to fix your teeth at the first glance of issues. But in the end, most of the things being quoted were unnecessary. They all seemed very intent on removing wisdom teet…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would personally rather be involved in the decision making process related to my very existence rather than just told what to do.
But why? Imagine your grandmother who knows nothing about computers or tech asking you about GPUs and which programming language is best because she's curious about buying Bitcoin vs investing in Ethereum. For someone who can't tell the difference between a screen saver and a computer virus, the discussion is meaningless, and only the illusion of control exists
Why are dentists so scammy? In Norway I've seen documentaries about them sending the same people to multiple dentists, and some of them receive wildly different advice. Some of that can be ascribed to some being in the school of pro-active, so they want to fix your teeth at the first glance of issues. But in the end, most of the things being quoted were unnecessary. They all seemed very intent on removing wisdom teet…
I went to a new dentist for a broken filling and they tried to tell me I had 14 cavities and set me down with a finance person to set up a payment plan for how I was going to pay for them over the next 5 years. I went to a second dentist, they fixed the broken filling and said my teeth were otherwise fine. I have the paperwork to back this up. I’d been seeing another dentist for a while and he suddenly wanted to crow…
This characterization makes it sound like a good thing. In reality, the doctor’s responsibility is being pushed to the patient because they are overbooked in the name of economic efficiency.
As a patient with complex, non-specific medical condition, I can tell you how miserable this is.
I can’t count on doctors _at all_ to move the process forward. It’s always me, reading articles on PubMed and coming up with ideas.
I’m not medically trained nor am I scientist. It’s a lot of legwork for me normally, but the ways that being sick limits me make it much harder.
Further, the emotional and intellectual overhead required to negotiate with medical professionals is high.
Back when I could afford to, I saw a neurologist at an office that didn’t accept insurance. She choose to see fewer patients and give them more time, as well as spend time doing research to look for new clues and ideas.
This worked really well and I made progress with her.
The rest of the American medical system? Gatekeepers that block access to potential treatment pathways until you can convince them it’s worth a try.