Written by: Tom Sawyer

Today I read about a survey that said many American doctors give their patients placebos.  Yep, that’s right, doctors are giving their patients…nothing, to help them.  Wow, this is just what we need right now, wasting money on prescriptions that aren’t going to do anything.

According to the survey, half of all American doctors could be doing this and that is an alarming number when you think about it.  At least the placebos have advanced.    The placebos discussed aren’t the classic sugar pill, but rather other medication that may not necessarily do anything to cure what ails the patient.  I will sleep like a baby knowing my doctor may have thought enough of me to prescribe me an expensive drug that does nothing to help me instead of a sugar pill.

Like Allen Iverson said, “This is PRACTICE.”

Isn’t it ironic that doctors and lawyers practice medicine and law respectively.  Two of the most lucrative professions and they are practicing – practicing something where people could be killed (executed), die or go to jail.  It is all pretty absurd, but I thought so before I read the article.

I wrote something in the past about Motrin – Vitamin M is what I like to call it.  I’ve had experiences, including a mini blow up with one doctor, where I was simply given Motrin for everything that ailed me from head to toe.  Now that I read about this survey, my doctors could have been part of that half and just gave me Motrin to get me in and out as quickly as possible.  Have you ever felt like you were rushed through the doctor’s office?  I have.

I guess we will all have to ask more questions in the doctor’s office so we don’t become part of that 50% who receive placebos.

I think it boils down to trust.  We want to be able to trust our doctors.  No, we should be able to trust our doctors literally with our lives.  After medical school and all those years of college, didn’t they learn something besides blowing smoke?  I guess half of them weren’t paying attention in class.

Tags: doctor, placebo

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 25th, 2008 at 12:01 am and is filed under Current Buzz. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.