*grumblemuttergrowl*
Feb. 8th, 2002 01:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kuangningJust when I begin to believe in the benefits of the medical system...
Doctor: well, you have the 'flu, all right. The good news is, you're almost over it. I'm gonna put you on some antibiotics...
Aio: erm. isn't the 'flu a viral infection?
Doctor: yes, that's exactly right.
Aio: then what good is an antibiotic going to do?
Doctor: truthfully? not much. but it can't hurt, can it?
< conversation mercifully snipped. >
There's a difference between a placebo, which is an intrinsically harmless substance given to bolster the patient's faith in the doctor and the healing process, and a medicine administered for the sake of administering it. If you can't help me, dammit, say you can't help me, and leave it at that. And whatever happened to treating the thing empirically? I was doing that much on my own. I understand that sometimes people demand antibiotics because they want to feel that something's being done... but I didn't ask for them! It's downright irresponsible of any physician to contribute to the misconception that an antibiotic is a cure-all, especially when an antibiotic is, no matter how you look at it, a poison. It is designed to kill a living organism within your body, and the over-use of antibiotics can leave you vulnerable to antibiotic-resistant strains of infections. Makes me wonder just how much damage this particular doctor has been responsible for with his "can't hurt, can it?" philosophy.
Doctor: well, you have the 'flu, all right. The good news is, you're almost over it. I'm gonna put you on some antibiotics...
Aio: erm. isn't the 'flu a viral infection?
Doctor: yes, that's exactly right.
Aio: then what good is an antibiotic going to do?
Doctor: truthfully? not much. but it can't hurt, can it?
< conversation mercifully snipped. >
There's a difference between a placebo, which is an intrinsically harmless substance given to bolster the patient's faith in the doctor and the healing process, and a medicine administered for the sake of administering it. If you can't help me, dammit, say you can't help me, and leave it at that. And whatever happened to treating the thing empirically? I was doing that much on my own. I understand that sometimes people demand antibiotics because they want to feel that something's being done... but I didn't ask for them! It's downright irresponsible of any physician to contribute to the misconception that an antibiotic is a cure-all, especially when an antibiotic is, no matter how you look at it, a poison. It is designed to kill a living organism within your body, and the over-use of antibiotics can leave you vulnerable to antibiotic-resistant strains of infections. Makes me wonder just how much damage this particular doctor has been responsible for with his "can't hurt, can it?" philosophy.
