Doctors taking the PLOS One study 97% out of the 783 admitted they recommended a sugar pill or a treatment not established in medicine, such as taking vitamin for example, for an ailment their patient came in with. The PLOS authors say this is not necessarily a bad thing. About one in ten said they had given a sugar pill or an injection of salt water in place of real medication. One in 100 said they do this at least once a week.
What is bad about this
The rising cost of healthcare makes this a royal sham, and a pain to those paying out of pocket for their healthcare. For those who are using insurance or Medicaid it’s fraud and for all three it’s downright deceit. If forcing a patient to take certain medications is illegal, then certainly giving them a sugar pill or saltwater injection is working along those same lines.
Dr. Clare Gerarda, chairwoman of the Royal College of GP’s, said it was perfectly acceptable for doctors to us a placebo as long as it did not cause harm and was not expensive.
Are doctors playing God or do we make them out to be God
Another ‘placebo used by doctors on patients are antibiotics for a viral infection. It’s a known fact antibiotics don’t work against a virus and doctors are advised not to prescribe them for this reason. Not to mention the risk of running the patient resistant to antibiotics and furthering damning their immune system rendering antibiotic treatment useless for future illnesses.
Dr. Howick co-author of the study says, “ it’s not about doctors deceiving patients in the UK. Doctors believe they’re helping the patients.” A doctor is to give medical advice, not faux attention and medications. A patient comes to a doctor with an ailment and asks to receive medical treatment and it is up to the doctor to comply with what the patient asks for. In the case of an emergency medical situation the doctor is guiding the patient and their family as to the best line of medical procedure and the family decides with the patient, depending on circumstances if the patient is able, which route to take. Nowhere in either situation is there room for a placebo.
A placebo which is vitamins, supplements or a remedy are welcome resolutions by a majority of patients and seen as a line of wellness, more welcome than the thought of paying for medications that have no value toward health or addressing the patient’s ailment.
The placebo effect
When the patient feels better despite taking a medicine with no active ingredient can be very strong factor. It’s mind over matter, based on the patients expectation of a cure. Again, this is where Western medicine and UK medicine ( or medicine that is not holistic) fails the patient by not addressing the whole patient, body mind and spirit.
If the patient decides they become ill again, then you still have the issue of the mind that has not been dealt with, that has not been addressed and healing to assure health mentally and then physically.
Does the patient care if they get a placebo along as they have the cure
Again can we truly call a placebo a ‘cure’? The issue may have been pushed aside for the time being by using a placebo but may rear its head in another part of the body, and it is also possible it could become more fatal the second time around.
Gerada said ineffectual treatment was never acceptable, “But admitting to your patient you don’t know exactly what is going on, and that therapy might help is.”
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