This appeared in today’s Straits Times. Written by Andy Ho, he thinks it is time Big Pharma’s big salaried executives get jail time instead of just a fine when it resorts to trickery and number manipulation to get more people hooked on their drugs.
Big Pharma is smart. It goes through doctors, people whom the rest of the population look up to and almost never question. If they can “sell” a drug to doctors, preferably big name, well regarded doctors, it can rake in billions of dollars for their shareholders. Afterall, when a doctor recommends a drug and tells you that the side effects are minimal or that there are none (oh really???) most people will accept it as the gospel truth and pop those pills and smear those creams, all without a second thought.
No, I am not saying that these doctors are deliberately scamming us. Some are truly ignorant of how certain drugs work. They have no time for their own research and rely on the “research” provided by these drug companies. Some are even truly ignorant of how the body works!
True story – GP insisted that I stopped nursing my baby because I had an attack of mastitis and when I insisted that she just needs to give me a breastfeeding compatible antibiotic, she said 2 things that are laughable : a) I was feeding my baby gobules of bacteria and, b) she will not be responsible if I did not get better after taking a “milder” form of antibiotics.
How many first time moms would have listened to her “advice” and stopped breastfeeding, thinking it was too much work to pump and dump? I know my sil did! And yes, I later learnt that one need not even have to take antibiotics for mastitis!
But I digress 🙂
My point is – in this day and age where profit margins are thinning in all industries globally, we can no longer rely on “experts” to tell us what’s good and what’s not. Unless they truly have no vested interest in a product and are men/women of integrity, always take what you read/hear with a pinch of salt. What we need is a discerning spirit from God. Not every official diagnosis or prescription is right. Doctors are human too. They are not omniscient, they make mistakes. And those people who deal with numbers? Be very, very careful of them 🙁
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Oh how I agree! Had I followed my Gynae’s advise on some “Pregnancy stablizing” drug, I would have had a miserable pregnancy and a “hairy” baby with other side effects. Good thing I trusted my body and the leading of the holy spirit to seek a 2nd opinion.
It’s really so crucial in these times to walk with and in the spirit.
I was very lucky to have an ObGy who was very into natural healing, so i managed to have a drug free pregnancy and birth experience. But for my children, my Dr moved away and the so called ‘best’ child specialist around is always frightening us about the consequences if we do not give them the prescribed meds… sigh… sometimes, although we have done our research, my husband and I are always left confused AND worried… AFTER seeing the Dr. Who do we trust? Like you said, we need to be in touch with God to be able to make the best decision for our children.
Thanks for sharing, Serene. So if you don’t need antibiotics for mastitis, then what should the affected mum do??
Lots of Vit C and garlic. Lots of water and lots of nursing. Massage HARD at the lump before, after and during the nursing sessions and massage hard while showering in hot water spraying at the lump. Then rest, rest, rest 🙂
Agree with Serene about the importance of rest. MUST rest. another thing that helped me was to massage the lump and try to hand express to try and get any clogged bits of dried milk out before nursing. Then baby can be even more efficient to get the rest of the lump out.