Healthcare or Health Service?

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December 23, 2019 | 15 Comments

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  1. Look hard and wide for doctors that practice like those who made house calls years ago and cared for you as they would their child. They’re becoming an endangered species I’m afraid. Unfortunately the pharm industry has done such a good job of poisoning the well that many Drs just don’t get it. By that I mean the harms of meds, manipulation omission of data. What it’s become -big pharma take over of medicine reminds me of ivy weaving through the bricks of a house.
    I took my cat three years ago for what I thought was an abscess on her lower jaw. The vet put her under cleaned it up did and X-ray which showed a mass and she resected this aggressively into the jaw bones little and sent a biopsy. Came back as a particularly bad cancer. Prediction was kitty’s demise in about 3 months. I had kitty morphine ready to go and got the hospice mindset in gear but Kitty did fabulous. So stoped the meds (she seemed to not like the pain med) and she hasn’t had a drop of Medicine in 3 years no labs or tests. She did well with a small surgery and antibiotic for 7 days. She gets her soft food and well she’s happy running around herself doing fine. Docs still amazed. Less is more in most cases.
    Merry Christmas to all.

  2. Beware of wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing ~ They are everywhere!
    There is good and bad in every profession and some Docs like to give the impression that they care.
    Some make their patients very ill so that they can generate $$$ out of the vulnerable.
    They do:
    unnecessary tests upon tests + dish out meds upon meds = unfavourable health outcomes (induced diseases)
    Some are sadists and get their kicks out of watching healthy people get sick, under their ‘masked disguise’ of ‘so called caring!’
    The vulnerable are tricked into believing that those who care are doing so much to benefit their patient when they are doing more harm than good and placing their patients through unnecessary RISKS!
    Is the model of medicine today fooling and deceiving a lot of people?
    Are we just another number and once we end up in the wrong hands, lost in the vacuum of a futile system?
    Should there not be quotas and guidelines on how much tests and procedures should be done on patients?
    If you end up in the wrong hands, your good health will surely be compromised or cut short.
    Vulnerable patients believe the more tests and procedures you do = better health outcomes. Not necessarily so!
    Who has the right to put us through so much harm and unnecessary risks?

    BEWARE OF THE WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING ~ Little Red Riding Hood is in for a very rude SHOCK!
    Fake news+ bad medicine + flawed literature +some fake politicians + some docs who wear false masks = all play their role in deceiving the majority

    Lessons To Learn From Little Red Riding Hood
    So when Little Red Riding Hood reached the cottage, she entered and went to Grandma’s bedside. “My! What big eyes you have, Grandma!” she said in surprise. “All the better to see you with, my dear!” replied the wolf. “My! What big ears you have, Grandma!” said Little Red Riding Hood. “All the better to hear you with, my dear!” said the wolf. “What big teeth you have, Grandma!” said Little Red Riding Hood. “All the better to eat you with!” growled the wolf pouncing on her. Little Red Riding Hood screamed and the woodcutters in the forest came running to the cottage.
    It would be wonderful if we had benevolent souls watching out for us, especially when we are dealing with WOLVES IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING!

  3. (Please post this response instead of the other.)

    It’s been about 1.5 years since I last visited the doctors because of my kindling reaction to a reinstatement of an SSRI. I still suffer from awful symptoms. I’m getting on with life as best as I can.

    But it still keeps me awake at night. Not the symptoms, although they make it uncomfortable at times. But the injustice of it all. That keeps me awake. It’s now Christmas. I had my adverse reaction on The 17th off December 2017. Worst 6 days of my life. almost died and then another 1.5 years off work complete with around 20 different symptoms coming and going, new ones appearing, old ones leaving then coming back and so fourth and now I’m in debt.

    The worst feeling is nobody cares, doctors don’t have time or even believe what happened. It’s very lonely. I have support from friends and family, but I really need proper help both medically to help investigate things and emotionally as it has effected me. There isn’t a day I don’t think about what happened, not a single day. I’ve tired to move on despite it all but it’s hard.

    I still have a few symptoms left that have made my life less than ideal. But I’m working and trying my best. I have a lot of anger inside me, I feel like I want to fight them, make some noise but don’t know where to begin or where to turn.

    To this day I have nerve pain in my neck, vision issues such as depth problems. Playing computer games is hard as my eyes have a delay in tracking objects. Raining in my ears (tinnitus), my hands feel weak and I get spasams in my fingers. Sometimes my fingers get so stiff and tingly they feel like wooden hands. It’s an odd sensation to describe.

    I believe I had a form ot cervical dystopia as my neck muscle seized up for a full year: it felt like toffee being stretched, pulling my neck had the weirdest sensation. Months after that I started getting tingling skin around my neck and now for nearly 2 years my neck skin felt like it was sandpaper, like a burning feeling. I can’t stand how weird and awful it feels when I’m lying down but I’m learning to live with it. There’s more.

    I could write a massive list of symptoms I’ve experienced on and off these past couple of years but it would be a massive post.

    The one one I experienced was Akathasia which I had no idea what it was. At the time. I will never forget how awful I was going through that. 2 years later and I’m still deeply hurt by what the doctors did to me. I don’t think I’ll ever get over it.

    I have a lot of hate, resentment about how I trusted doctors. I carry that with me everyday . I should really see someone about that as it has poisoned my soul a little. I’ve moved to Camden in London so I’m trying to find a support group or therapist who I can talk to about what I went through and continue to go through. But I have no idea who to turn to as I need someone who understands what these drugs can really do. Nothing can help with the symptoms. But ironically I need to see a therapist to help me deal with what happened because of the meds.

    The SSRI almost destroyed my life, I had a great career as a VFX artist working on movies. I’m lucky enough to be back doing that. But I still have problems that I fight with daily.

    I honestly can’t believe my life has been efffected in the way, if I had never went to the doctors about anxiety all those years ago, I would be fine. Ironically I’m not anxious anymore but what I’m left with is much worse.

    Reply

    • Shaun,

      Am sorry to read all you have been through with this. Just wanted to respond to say that you are not alone, if that is any kind of small comfort at all. I took an SSRI for many years and I can relate to some of what you describe.

      There is a lot about antidepressants and withdrawal which just isn’t being spoken about, a lot of people go through a private hell trying to come off and deal with the after effects, it can be very hard to find words to describe this experience to others. It can be life changing.

      I’m not sure if it’s still going but there used to be a support service in Camden for those withdrawing from antidepressants and Benzodiazepines called REST. Are you familiar with it at all? It’s not a service I’ve used myself but I think they may be able to offer some peer support. I believe the lady behind it is called Melanie Davis if you wanted to look into it further.

      There is also survivingantidepressants.org which you may have used before? Can be useful for connecting with others who share an understanding of these issues.

      I can relate to the anger and injustice you speak of, It’s astounding how hurt we have been by something which was supposed to help.. Wishing you well

      Sarah

  4. This post, at the opening of a new decade, is incredibly important.

    What made things change after 1987?
    Discuss———————

    Why do GPs when presented with a RxISK Report after a patient experiences an ADR:-
    (a) roll their eyes and say ‘what’s all this about, we’ve got yellow cards for this’
    (b) shuffle uncomfortably in their chair and say ‘I really don’t have time for this’
    (c) snarl, ‘please don’t get involved with all this nonsense, it will do you no good’ implying that ‘you are being brainwashed by a load of self interested loonies and I will make a note of your records that you have lost the plot, so if you bring any of this up with my colleagues, they’ll have their blocking response ready for you. And there’s an end to it.’

    Tick all those a’s, b’s or c’s that apply.

    Has ANYONE ever managed to elicit a warm hearted, open-minded, genuinely reasonable interested response from a GP when tentatively or even in a gung-ho manner, proffering a RxISK Report?

    We are worrying about global warning, naturally enough. But shouldn’t we be even more worried about the mass infiltration of our minds and bodies by poisons (sacraments) delivered by trusted minions duped into so doing by a terrifying power. We will never cope intelligently with global warming challenges if we can’t think straight. We will never care about each other if we are drowning in sickness ourselves. It is tempting to feel smug satisfaction about being one of the elite, one of those ‘in the know’ having discovered Mad in America and RxISK.org. But it’s not very edifying, just to hug the knowledge to ourselves. But how the hell do we get that knowledge universally accepted in time? So many of us have tried and tried. Perhaps we can’t. Perhaps the end of the civilisation pre 1987 is here, and only little pockets of us, up on high hillsides, will survive to remember one day how things once were. The rest will be zombies. Maybe this is destiny. Maybe we’ve passed the running point, and all is lost. Maybe now all that’s left is the possibly of a miracle. Who believes in miracles these days?
    I do.

    • Serafina, I’ve had two very caring responses to a Rxisk report. One went so far as to talk to the chair of her department, but both ultimately said they could not get in touch with Rxisk. It would require a release of information which I would gladly sign, but reaching out to Rxisk seems to be stepping too far outside what these doctors are routinely expected to do. Both of them decided to focus on helping me in more immediate ways but at the time I resented them for not getting involved. Since that time I’ve learned to accept this as the way it is, and like you, I believe it’ll take a miracle.

  5. Reminds me of doing ‘lines’ in detention at school…write some ‘wise’ person’s words of wisdom over and over until it’s meaningless – then forget all about it. But all the same sincerely kudos G J B for outing yet again what is well known to still go on in medicine.
    Re: Pathways to independence: towards producing and using trustworthy evidence
    Re: Pathways to independence: towards producing and using trustworthy evidence Joel Lexchin, Helen Macdonald, Barbara Mintzes, Cynthia Pearson, et al. 367:doi 10.1136/bmj.l6576
    I completely agree with the points and issues raised. I am a consultant breast radiologist working in the NHS for the last 9 years. The NHS prides itself in being one of the few medical institutions in the world free from any financial incentives to the healthcare providers directly from the patients. Having worked in other medical settings, I know this system works well for the patient and doctors alike, keeping the public trust in doctors high.

    To uphold NHS principles, it is crucial to obtain trustworthy medical evidence free from commercial and sponsor bias. For that to be possible, direct industry sponsored research to test new equipment and drugs should be stopped with separation of those who make products (with clear financial gains) and those who evaluate it. Often the medical stalwarts involved in industry-sponsored research are the same persons who are actively involved in contributing to key guidelines as ‘experts’ by speaking in national and international meetings. I can speak that from personal experience as recently I was asked to help in an industry sponsored research to test a new equipment, in which the data was completely held by the industry and the chief investigator had significant contribution to decision making which effects protocols throughout the country. I refused to take part. I also know from personal experience that all ‘breast screening’ guidelines in this country are made by people who work in the screening set up with clear gains from screening to continue, even though resources are scarce and are taken away from genuine symptomatic women who wait for weeks to be seen by a breast radiologist. There is never a healthy debate about the pros and cons of screening healthy women for breast cancer in national meetings. We are in an age of over diagnosis, over treatment and turning healthy people into patients.

    There are few steps that could be taken. Firstly, there should be a strict universal policy to have a clear display of conflict of interests before any presentations/ published materials with key findings, especially those that could influence public and medical opinion. Secondly, experts involved in drafting guidelines on a particular topic should not have financial or non-financial gains from the outcome of those guidelines. Thirdly, industries interested in testing new equipment/drugs should contribute to a public body, from where there should be blinded allocation to a research team for an non-biased testing of these new equipment/ drugs. There should be no direct contact between industry and healthcare providers.

    Competing interests: No competing interests

    17 December 2019
    Gaurav J Bansal
    consultant radiologist
    Cardiff and vale UHB, UK

  6. 27/12/2019 Radio4 Today 5pm On antidepressants
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000cn11 (On SOUNDS now)

    Both episodes on SOUNDS – todays episode is A follow up to the series on antidepressant withdrawal -by Sarah Vine John Read and Roger Whittaker -ist episode shown 11th March 2109
    Anti-depressants: How hard is it to get off them?
    For PM, Sarah Vine investigates the experience of withdrawing from anti-depressants
    Release date:11 March 2019

  7. What do we need to do to have our voices heard, if many are sceptical?
    We have been creating an awareness before all this information came out and all concerned refused to listen. :'(
    The below alcohol and drug related deaths of celebrities is not coincidental!
    https://www.drugs.com/celebrity_deaths.html
    There are no more excuses for health professionals to be unmindful that medicine (s) toxicities combined with other medicines, alcohol, opioids and herbal medicines, can be very fatal.
    I am also very aware that any of these celebrities could have ingested a flawed batch of medicine(s).
    Of course, the truth will never be revealed because it will cause a very big embarrassment and uneasiness to those who believe that everything is ROBUST when it comes to:
    Research (flawed information)
    Flawed Manufacturing
    Unscrupulous business (corruption)
    Cover up’s /lies
    Perhaps, Serafina is correct in suggesting that miracles do happen in the end.
    The quote by Mahtma Gandhi rings so true!
    “First the ignore you,
    then they laugh at you,
    then they fight you.
    Then you win.”
    I don’t believe we hug the knowledge to ourselves, Serafina.
    Some, just plead ignorance and treat us like imbeciles.
    Sadly, it is too late when something unforeseen happens.
    It is all over the internet for all to see/hear.
    Yes, I believe that BIG DRASTIC CHANGES are inevitable.
    There should be no more EXCUSES for unethical and immoral practices.

  8. Some time ago I looked up the reporting figures on the MHRA website and calculated an estimate of how often GPs in the UK report ADRs to the MHRA. It turned out that they were averaging around twice in their careers. That was when the reporting figures were easy to find, I don’t think they are now, well they weren’t the last time I looked. And yet doctors seem to pretend that they’re fulfilling this essential task. I thought at the time that the average probably reflected a few stalwarts religiously doing their duty while the rest did nothing, and am not at all surprised to read here that “there is a very strong sense that few doctors now have the guts to put their name to an adverse event report”. When I suggested to one consultant that he should report my ADR he replied – ‘they’d be down on me like a ton of bricks’. I should have asked who ‘they’ were. I got the impression that he meant the hospital management, but I can’t be sure.

  9. YOU ARE HERE:HOMENEWS
    GP clinical judgement leads to 20% fewer referrals than NEWS score, finds study
    22 January 2020 By Isobel Sims, Costanza Pearce

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    Madhumita Murgia, European Technology Correspondent YESTERDAY17
    A drug molecule invented entirely by artificial intelligence is set to enter human clinical trials for the first time, marking a critical milestone for the role of machine learning in medicine.

    The new compound, which has been designed to treat patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder, was developed by Oxford-based AI start-up Exscientia in collaboration with the Japanese pharmaceutical firm Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma
    The breakthrough comes at a time when investors are pouring billions of dollars into companies that are accelerating drug development using AI.

    So far, machine learning algorithms, combined with troves of patient data, have been used to successfully expand the number and types of patients who can benefit from existing medicines. But the invention of entirely new drugs by AI that are both clinically safe and effective in humans has been harder to achieve.

    Exscientia’s AI platform used a suite of algorithms to decide on the best chemical structure for the new compound, which is known as DSP-1181 and is targeted at a specific receptor in the brain involved in OCD. Together the algorithms were able to generate tens of millions of potential molecules, sift through the candidates and make a decision about which ones to synthesise and test.

    “The AI can learn faster than conventional approaches, so we had to make and test only 350 compounds, a fifth of the normal number of compound candidates, which is record-breaking productivity,” said Andrew Hopkins, chief executive of the start-up and a molecular biophysicist. “The algorithms . . . can be applied to any drug targets, against a huge range of diseases in oncology, cardiovascular and rare diseases.”

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