how the "free market" really fails in health care

[acroyear]

Mike the Mad Biologist : Why We Need Healthcare for All: The Idiocy of Self-Diagnosis:

The NY Times has a heartbreaking story about people under 30 who can't afford healthcare. It's pretty horrific: juvenile diabetics who have to switch from insulin pumps to injections (which lowers blood sugar control), a woman who went to the emergency room for 46 hours and wound up owing the equivalent of a year of college tuition, and so on (that I can say "and so on", and you can probably come up with your own examples is indictment enough). But this gobsmacked me:

Ms. Polec's roommate, Fara D'Aguiar, 26, treated her last flu with castoff amoxicillin -- "probably expired," she said -- given to her by a friend.

That repeating thudding noise you're hearing is me smacking my head against the wall. 'Flu'--probably winter vomiting disease and not influenza (although how could one know? There was no medical professional involved)--is a virus. Amoxicillin is an antibacterial--that is, ineffective against viruses--and can occasionally cause nausea or diarrhea (and severe allergic reactions in very rare cases). Not only is this is irresponsible use, but inappropriate antibiotic use can harm patients.

This is why we need a health system where sick people can contact trained medical personnel.

Comments

[faeriquene.livejournal.com]

My coworkers always bug me about going to the doctor for antibiotics for any little thing I have. Severe illness? Yes, doctor visit is in order. Nasty cold? Probably not.

Though the last time I did visit the doc for what turned out to be a virus, she gave me antibiotics anyway, to prevent opportunistic infection. So it's not totally crazy to use antibiotics for a virus, but I agree with you on the self-medication in this instance. Patient clearly knew neither what exactly she had, nor how to treat it. Plus, overuse of antibiotics can cause them to be less effective later on, or so I understand.

[stori-lundi.livejournal.com]

I have a friend in Bahrain and she says that a lot of antibiotics are OTC. That's just scary.