During the month since my last blog, there have been several issues that were interesting or irritating to me. But none *inspired* me to write an article. It finally occurred to me to ask for suggestions.
What issues are you passionate about that I can address through the blog? Please email me your suggestions at info@askdrjones.com (put "Blog Topic" in the subject line). O.K. — there were a few things that got me agitated —
Kevin Trudeau’s bestseller, Natural Cures – "They" Don’t Want You To Know About.
Give me a break. If we could dig up the writers of our constitution and show them this book, they would unanimously agree on a new amendment. "You can’t publish crap as medical science." There is *some* truth to *some* of what Trudeau writes, but it seemed to me that he has had an ax to grind since he suffered from something like panic disorder, and the medical treatment he sought was not helpful. Much of what he asserts as medical fact has no scientific basis. Mostly he directs people to his website (naturalcures.com), "the premier information source for all your health needs." You can have 24/7 access to his secret, magic treatments … for $9.95 a month or the bargain deal lifetime membership, which is only $499. Trudeau has already been fined and reprimanded, but he has found that the courts protect the individual – no matter how outrageous – instead of protecting its citizens. I doubt our founding fathers are resting well.
What’s up with Terrell Owens?
One of the most talented football players in the league dissing his quarterback, getting fired, losing a fortune, not to mention endorsements … Is he crazy? I doubt it. Narcissism can be so extreme that it makes people act crazy. How about his apology? It wasn’t the worst ever by a professional athlete, but it makes the final four. No accepting responsibility, no evidence of remorse – more like "my attorney said to apologize, so I’m apologizing. Now get out of my face!"
What about the Medicare Prescription Plan?
I would have blogged this issue, but after a 2-hour seminar and several articles, I didn’t understand it. I plan to first go to law school, so I can understand the type of language it uses. Then I plan to study the use of the English language as a means to make things so complicated and divergent that you will always be able to defend it by changing its interpretation. It does address the question – What’s wrong with letting the government solve our social problems? As they say in law res ipsi loquitor ("the thing speaks for itself").
Follow-up on Florida teacher accused of sexual abuse of young male student
(Click Here to see original article "Crazy But Not Insane") She plea-bargained a deal to avoid a public spectacle of a trial. She will be under 3 years house arrest and 10 years of probation. Her lawyer said she is in treatment for Bipolar disorder and is on 5 different medications. They had 3 psychiatrists including 1 national expert who were going to testify she did meet the standard for legal insanity – BUT, the district attorney had 3 psychiatrists who all agreed she was mentally ill, but she didn’t meet the standard for legal insanity. I’m ambivalent about not getting to see the trial. It would have been entertaining court "high drama." But it wouldn’t have been good for psychiatry to be depicted as lacking in scientific objectivity. If she was found not guilty by reason of anything, then we need to make "emotion" a defense. In that case, not even O.J. was guilty.
4 thoughts on “What Gets *You* Agitated?”
(1) My mom has gas in her stomach and in her chest. It bothers her a great deal. She went and had both tests (camera down the throat and up the rectum). In recovery, the doctor (Doctor X) spent like 2 minutes max with me before running away to another patient. All I got was he removed 2 polyps (later we did find they were benign, although my mom had a PAP Smear or Mammogram…I cannot remember which…..a few years ago and we NEVER got the results! Mom had to call after a reasonable length of time had passed. Hmmm….might be important to know the result! ((F.Y.I. – watch HOUSE on Fox Tuesdays….this reminds me of it…..what a great medical show!!!) Back to other story: he said he removed 2 polyps they would test (came out benign)….evidence of maybe “gastritis” (what is that?…no chance to ask…..everything else looked fine….Sooo…..???…..well what is the problem????….He said take her to an ear, nose throat specialist….I said we went to Doctor Y a few years ago for full CAT Scan etc. and he found nothing (she has sinus drainage that we thought might be affecting her stomach)….Doctor X replied “Well, Doctor Y is a good one!” then ran off.
(2) So anyways, we thought “Let’s try again” and do what Doctor X suggested. I took my mom back to the ear, nose and throat Doctor Y. We told him her symptoms. He examined her. He said he saw no signs of inflammation, blah, blah, etc. Soooo…???? I had to ask him “Well, what could it otherwise be?” He gave her a 10-day supply of a time-released sample that didn’t work.
(3) Here it is: WHY DO DOCTORS RUN PEOPLE THROUGH LIKE CATTLE, SUPPOSEDLY EXAMINE THEM AND DON’T FIND ANYTHING AND SAY “BYE-BYE..HAVE A GREAT DAY!” AND BILL YOU???? ARE THEY TOO BLIND TO REMEMBER WHY YOU CAME IN TO BEGIN WITH? AND THAT YOU STILL HAVE THE PROBLEM WHEN YOU LEAVE THEIR OFFICE?? OR DO THEY JUST WANT US TO “SHOW THEM THE MONEY”????
Thanks for asking for my input. We love you, (Insane) Dr. Wayne!!!!!! -Keith B.-
What Agitates Me?
* Extra volume during commercial breaks.
* Drivers who move into my lane in front of me and then slow down.
* Mail in my mailbox that is addressed to “Neighbor”, “Resident”, “Our Friends”, or any misspelling of my name.
* Logging into a web site more than once per session, and a whole host of other usability issues.
* Not being able to sleep for an overabundance of creative ideas.
* The notion that for the rest of my life, I will never get a break from doing laundry, dishes or the monotony of personal hygiene.
* Knowing that completely undeserving celebrities and executives make exponentially more than I do.
Things like that. Thanks for asking 🙂
I’d like to know what can be done to combat the obstinacy of the FDA (and, for that matter the DEA) in looking askance at every non-FDA-approved treatment for the various psychological disorders. This behaviour seems most apparent when the application of substances with discernable though generally low potential(s) for abuse hangs in the balance. It might be a true boon to those suffering from intractable depression if they could be tried on a short course of buprenorphine after most or all other attempts at pharmaco-intervention have yielded either minimal or no improvement.
It MIGHT be found that modafanil could be used to combat ADHD when TCAs and bupoprion yield minimal or no improvement, and when the use of CII medicants may be contraindicated or impractical. But until the “big brothers” in the government learn to become more hesitant to instantly “take the temperature in an unpleasant manner” of the prescriber who is doing their best to give their patients some relief, these measures crerate more mayhem than remission for all concerned.
It’s likely that other better examples exist of the hesitancy of prescribers to do the utmost for their patients for fear of the hypervigilance of the government, and the “guilty until proven innocent” situation in which said prescribers find themselves when they DO take a chance for a patient.
Okay, end of the ranting…..What, as patients, relatives of patients, advocates of patients, or comapssionate onlookers, can we do to get the FDA off the backs of the prescribers to allow them more latitude in their prescription theory?
If our legislators need to hear from us, that’s an easy one to make happen for anyone who has the interest. What, beyond that, can be undertaken?
Dr. Jones,
With regard to Kevin Trudeau (formerly of “Mega Memory” fame), I couldn’t agree with you more. As a formally trained scientist, I’m perplexed by these neo-Luddites who will swear by untested and uncontrolled “natural” herbal remedies, and yet shun conventional medication whose efficacy has been proven in peer-reviewed clinical trials because you can’t pull it off a tree. In either case we’re talking about the same 92 elements comprising these compounds; in the latter case one knows exactly what and in what dosage one is getting, in the former one has practically no idea. Some of the most potent poisons known to man come from natural sources (e.g., botulin, ricin, ergotamine), and there’s nothing inherently better or more effective about chemicals produced by a plant than those synthesized in the laboratory – that idea went out with the “vital force” theory sometime in the 19th century, if I remember correctly. As heavily as we regulate everything else in the health-care arena, it doesn’t make much sense to me that “do-it-yourself practitioners” like Trudeau and many others can espouse (and sell) what I consider pseudo-scientific nonsense with relative impunity.
People who want to go back to the “good old days” of herbs and poultices forget that just a hundred years ago, life expectancy was somewhere near half what it is today, and something like a pin-prick could cost you a limb or maybe even your life.
Can anyone tell I’ve got an opinion on this one ;-)?