Overmedicated Vs. Undermedicated
Have you noticed that lately physicians are not treating diseases as they used to. Unlike in the past, most doctors are realizing that their over prescribing ways have given rise to a decrease in both a person's natural immunity and the effectiveness of the antibiotics that they are giving. In the current state of the world, the possibility exists of a biological attack. With this fact, all of a sudden the doctors are realizing that they may need all possible drugs available to thwart this type of attack. In the interim, they are claiming that most of the illnesses we have now are viral and no drugs are necessary.
The librarian at school was recently diagnosed with mono and was told by a physician that no antibiotics were necessary to resolve the problems. The only medication besides the over the counter ones available, they gave her steroids and sent her home. Now I don't know if you are aware of how dangerous steroid use can be, but let's put it this way, it puts some people completely out of their minds. I mean they actually become psychotic. It is scary that a doctor in this age would prefer giving someone steroids vs. a common antibiotic as would have been given in the past.
With this latest development in medicine, it seems to me that many people have become more reluctant to go to the doctor for colds and such. They are now realizing that a majority of doctors are not prescribing anything for these illnesses anyway, and the truth is why pay even a co-pay if a doctor is going to send you home just to have you take an over the counter medication. It is definitely not worth the time and energy of going to the MD if they are not going to prescribe anything.
My fear is that if less people are going to the doctor for these small illnesses, then what are the doctors going to do to generate more money. I am afraid that during the next few years, some of the surgeries that have withered in popularity will be returning. Some examples would be tonsillectomies, hysterectomies, and appendectomy. These surgeries, although less life threatening than most, may start to be increased to generate revenue for the struggling MD's. I really hope that I am wrong, yet somehow these doctors are going to need to make up the money lost by the inevitable decrease in office visits. I can't imagine that they are going to sit by and watch their livelihoods dwindle away, without taking action somehow.
