Excessive, greedy and ignorant? Say it ain't so, doc!
I went in to my local MedCheck the other day because of awful nausea caused by a possible heat stroke while working outside (my employer told me to go after I said that I was going to be taking the rest of the day off because I felt sick, and I of course agreed, as that way I would receive worker's compensation for the rest of the day, and I didn't feel guilty because it was offered to me). In the end, SWIM didn't have heat stroke or anything similar (as he had suspected, which is why he didn't plan on going to a medical facility in the first place), but he made good use of the time he was there.
The nurse told me that I'd be getting a shot of an anti-nauseant. I asked the nurse what it was, and she just repeated "it's an anti-nauseant." I said "Well marijuana is an anti-nauseant, are you shooting me up with THC? Diphenhydramine? Because I can get that anywhere for a lot cheaper than what my employer's going to have to pay for this."
The nurse said she didn't know the name of the drug, so she asked the doctor after walking around the corner to him. The doctor at least knew the brand name of the substance (Zofran), but sadly he didn't know the chemical name.
In the best case scenario, the doctor knew all about Zofran, but simply forgot the chemical name because he's loyal to the pharmaceutical company of that specific product. I don't want to go in to what the worst case scenario might be like - the sky - or rather the abyss - could be the limit.
I hope you all realize how absolutely ridiculous this is. This woman (the nurse) tried to inject a syringe full of a liquid of unknown composition into my ass! She was very surprised when I asked her about the shot, and she asked me if I was a chemist (?), to which I replied, "no, I just like to know what's put in to my body." Now, many people would agree with my last statement, but it was crystal clear that virtually no one makes an active effort to determine what is actually being put into them when they're getting a random shot at the doctor's office that isn't a sedative or opiate.
To top it all off, I was given a 10-day prescription of anti-nauseants for basically no reason (it had been determined that I had acquired no heat-related illness) other than because I complained of nausea.
100% of my symptoms would have likely been cured by one 50mg dose of diphenhydramine, but the doctor decided instead that it would be most wise to deploy a nuclear warhead, then carpet bomb what might have been left of my nausea for ten days afterwards (of which I could tell by our discussion that he knew would be non-existant).
It seemed to me like he was subjecting my body to a clearly unnecessary amount of scheduled drugs just so he could get an incentive kickback, monetary or otherwise, from the distributing pharmaceutical company.
But that's not all. I was then scheduled for a follow-up visit 3 days afterward, in case the nausea returned. Big fucking help that would do me if I died or was hospitalized later that day due to prolonged heat exposure! He obviously couldn't care less that my visit was legally only concerning what had ailed me as a direct result of my work - he made it seem to me like it was very necessary. If my nausea had in fact continued for the 3 days afterward, it would be then very clear that it was not work-related - and I myself made it very clear that I wouldn't even be there if my employer didn't send me and would pay the bill. The doctor said that the appointment was necessary anyway, a statement which was, as far as I could tell, his last attempt to make as much money out of me as possible.
I decided that my employer was considerate enough to send me to MedCheck to ascertain my health out of his pocket, that I should be equally considerate in return, and so I decided not to fill the prescription and cost him an additional god knows how much in prescription drug costs.
I lost a lot of faith in the medical community that day. But at least now I've witnessed firsthand what is really going on.
16-08-2007, 06:54
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