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© 2012 Sanjeev Sabhlok's revolutionary blog
Monopolist doctors are now demanding state protection of their (birth?) right to prescribe medicines:
"all six main GP organisations, including the Australian Medical Association and Royal Australian College of GPs, have expressed concerns at the plans" to create policy so that " the pool of health workers able to prescribe drugs relevant to their work would be widened dramatically" [Source]
I strongly object to the idea that someone can stop me, a free human being, from getting a drug that I feel is appropriate for my health.
We have forgotten the concept of liberty today and embraced the “expert” state. The expert state believes that citizen are cattle, to be tended to by “experts”. The citizen's “productivity” is to be milked for the "common good", so these "experts" can grow rich and fat at our expense.
We have become like chicken in a cage. What we eat, what we drink, what we are able to buy: all are “regulated” by “experts”.
The “experts” know everything and we the people are fools.
The reality is otherwise. It is experts and doctors who are fools. Let me say this to anyone who believes otherwise: PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS.
I'm sick of your "degrees" and arrogance. YOU SHOW NO RESULTS, BUT DEMAND SUBSERVIENCE. Sorry, the world doesn't run this way. Let the market free.
If you are a doctor who believes you have an innate right to restrict my access to medicine through "prescription", then please first give me a GUARANTEE (backed by hard currency) that your prescription will work. Then I may be willing to tolerate your “regulation” of my behaviour. Else you are an unaccountable enemy of my LIFE and liberty.
It is amazing how arrogant doctors (and other “experts”) often are. Their output is close to zero in terms of solving health issues. But they act as if they know everything!
In particular, my entire life so far has sometimes felt like a battle AGAINST THE WORLD'S HUGE ARMY OF INCOMPETENT doctors.
Except for a VERY few doctors who know their subject (and this, too, largely for very obvious things like a bacterial infection of the throat), ALL my life I’ve had to run from pillar to post looking for doctors who know ANYTHING.
I don’t blame them, of course. Science itself is at a very primitive stage today. We know virtually nothing about the world or our body. But the pretence of knowledge of doctors and "experts" is what bothers me. And their attempt to act as gatekeepers to the pharmacy rails me the most.
As I said, if a doctor is willing to pay me ($1 million) each time his prescription doesn’t work, I’m willing to let him have the right to veto my own research and my own choice of medicine (if any). But if doctors merely BLABBER and are unable to back their “prescription” with HARD CASH in case it doesn't work, then I vigorously oppose their attempt to control my access to medicine that I KNOW I need.
I would rather self-prescribe and die trying to cure myself than have 100s of IGNORANT doctors waste my money and FAIL to cure me.
A few examples below:
GERD
I had severe stomach ache/heartburn in my late 20s and mid-30s. Doctors attributed it to bugs that are found in Assam, to “acidity” from “coffee” or “tomatoes”, and to a hundred other such silly "causes". I was rarely able to eat normally, and the hundreds of medicines I stuffed in my stomach did nothing to cure the problem.
After at least six doctors in India and USA had failed to diagnose the problem, the cause was finally found. It took intense persistence to keep looking for a cure. A doctor in USA finally ordered a test which discovered GERD. It took more than 12 years of pain for the GLOBAL community of doctors to find the problem.
Result: Doctor 1, MBBS/MD quacks 6
RSI
This was one of the worst examples of GLOBAL doctor incompetence that I came across. Specialists in THREE continents failed to diagnose and understand the problem. Thousands (over ten thousand) of dollars spent. Finally, after three years of personal study/ effort/ testing/ exploration I began to understand the cure. Now my RSI is broadly under control. I have pain but that's because I continue to type at least 10 hours a day, often 14 hours.
The solution? http://rsicure.sabhlokcity.com/
Result: Doctors 0, MBBS/MD quacks 7
Heel pain
After more than six months of excruciating heel pain which prevented me from going for walks and playing tennis, and getting opinions from at least three doctors, I finally found the cure – but not through these doctors. Through exploration of the internet.
The solution? http://heelpain.sabhlokcity.com/
Result: Doctors 0, MBBS quacks 3
Nail fungus
I caught a nail fungus and was referred to a skin specialist who gave strong oral medicines that are harmful for one’s heart/liver. After months of repeat visits and failure to cure the problem he finally gave up. My GP had initially diagnosed it as bacterial infection, and his prescriptions failed, as well. I went to a third GP who gave me an expensive ‘nail polish’ type medicine which never worked after more than one year.
I finally I found the solution, not from doctors but by reading a $10 book called Best Choices from the People’s Pharmacy.
The solution? Apply VICKS VAPORUB. Yes! Vicks Vaporub! Within a week the fungus had started dying. It has been two months now, and it has almost entirely gone. So much for “skin specialists” and their IDIOTIC levels of "knowledge".
Result: Doctors 0, MBBS/MD quacks 3
Intense eye pain
I’ve had extraordinary (ongoing) eye pain (and headache) since October 2010. I’ve seen 7 MDs ("qualified" eye specialists) by now, apart from three GPs across India and Australia. Result so far: NONE COULD EVEN DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM YET. I’ve got all kinds of tests done (CAT scans, etc.) and new special spectacles made. Plenty of "prescription" medicines consumed. All to no avail.
I therefore have been forced to read almost everything written on this subject, and have tried virtually everything that anyone can think of – and more. Natural, ayurvedic, artificial, EVERYTHING.
I’ve tried about 30 different types of eye drops/medicines by now. Indeed, when I returned from India recently I bought ALL the eye drops I could find on the shelves in India (and antibiotics), and ALL eye drops I could find on the shelves of Singapore airport.
I’ve also been inventing some of the most extreme eye exercises that (I think) might actually be helping me a bit. Self-experimentation. That’s the ONLY way left to me when the doctors of this world are SO INCOMPETENT.
I haven’t found the cure yet, but at times I feel that my eyes are slightly under control now, after doing all kinds of self-therapy (In India one can buy ALL medicines off the shelf, including antibiotics; I have used the knowledge acquired from books and all other sources to try out all medicines).
What value have ALL these "qualified" doctors provided to me so far? ZERO. Solution: intense self-study and self-experimentation.
Result: Doctors 0, MBBS/MD quacks 10
I can cite many other examples – both from my life and that of near family members.
If there is any single profession we should be very wary of, that is DOCTORS.
They are quick to charge BIG BUCKS for their "service", they are quick to RESTRICT ACCESS to medicines, but when it comes to CURING anyone, they are almost entirely useless.
So the next time any doctor asserts his "right" to WITHHOLD medicine from me, all I say to him is this: Please hand me a bond of $1 million that I can encash if your medicine doesn’t work. Else shut up and let me buy whatever medicine I want. You and your "qualifications" be STUFFED.
I want doctors to be brought down to earth, like any other human being: I want them to offer their service just like a tailor or barber offers his service, and let US THE CONSUMER decide.
It is when doctors gang up and become monopolists, and start asking lawmakers to restrict access to medicines that ARE OUR BIRTHRIGHT (on payment), then I become their MORTAL enemy.
FOR THEY HAVE LONG BECOME MY MORTAL ENEMIES. ENEMY OF MY LIFE. Not followers of the Hippocratic oath (do no harm) are they, for they DIRECTLY cause harm by blocking access to medicine, and thereby making medicine super-expensive, as well.
If I relied only on doctors by now, I would have long committed suicide out of sheer pain. It is ME and my critical thinking process that has saved me. And so I would like doctors to come down from their pedestal and stand along side me: as a seeker of the truth. DON'T DICTATE TO ME!
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Just great….presentation of your views….really appreciated article.
On FB:
George Parker: Hey Sanjeev any new about your eyes? I’ve been to Prof Anthony Hall twice.
Sanjeev Sabhlok:
George, I stopped restasis virtually after starting it since (it was imported after all kinds of regulatory hurdles) it was making things even worse, and another doctor said my eyes did not have any symptoms that require restasis. (Anthony Hall had earlier said I have NO PROBLEM at all, and sent me off for a CT scan.)
In brief, I’m now trying a whole lot of other medicines (including NSAIDS and antibiotics, and Ayurvedic eye drops, plus Aloe Vera juice etc. etc. AND a few extreme eye exercises). In consequence the pain has reduced somewhat. Burning is still there, although it appears that burning by itself is relatively tolerable (e.g. I’m able to sleep since eyes don’t hurt massively even when they are shut).
This has been going on for more than 2 weeks now. Sometimes these relief episodes seem to happen on their own, so I need at least 2 months of constantly reduced symptoms to know whether my ‘remedy’ is working. Then I’ve got to isolate the precise remedy which is ‘working’, through experiments on myself. Finally, if I can be relatively painless and relatively free of burning I’d call myself ‘cured’. I don’t expect complete pain free/ burning free eyes any longer.
Yadu Singh:
What a gross generalisation, offensive, arrogant, imbalanced and irrational piece, condemning the whole medical profession by someone who has no idea about what modern medicine is able to do today! There is no way people without sufficient knowledge and training should be allowed to prescribe medicines. Sorry, I disagree with your logic and statements.
Sanjeev Sabhlok:
No problem with prescriptions. Just that the idea that doctors should guarantee that their prescription works. If no guarantee, then they are merely quacks, anyway.
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Yadu Singh:
A vast majority of patients get better with the interventions of modern medicine. You are obviously an exception. This does not mean your irrational, imbalanced and offensive comments can go unchallenged, my friend!
Yadu Singh:
This is Australia, not India, where anyone can claim to be a doctor. If someone wants to prescribe medicines in Australia, they need to train in a formal way and learn the science of diagnosis making and pharmacology, before writing prescriptions. If you are not happy with “your” medical practitioners, you can complain against them. Condemning whole medical profession and ignoring their role and contribution to people’s well being is grossly offensive, irresponsible and objectionable!
Sanjeev Sabhlok:
Yadu, why are you going to the issue of “training”? The question is of service and value for money. When the result is zero, what’s the value of the training? It doesn’t make ANY difference. All that matters is results. If a doctor can guarantee results, then he/she should be protected and he/she can act as gatekeeper to the pharmacy. If not then he/she has no business to stop consumers from picking whatever medicine they think they need.
Yadu Singh:
According to your “model”, Dr Sanjeev Sabhlok can “prescribe” medicines, without any accountability, insurance or training. What happens if things go horribly wrong or fatally wrong? Consumers, without training and licence to practie medicine can buy over the counter medicines and take risks for themselves, but can’t be allowed to prescribe medicines for others!
Sanjeev Sabhlok:
Yadu, I’m only asking this: why does a doctor need regulatory rights (state protection) to prescribe? That’s a monopoly. Why not a free market in medicines, just like you have a free market in foods?
In my model there are NO prescription medicines. All medicines are available freely without prescription. Doctors can suggest a medicine A, but I may, depending on my own understanding of things (often being more specific to my particular problem), either buy A or choose something else: B, or do something else altogether.
Even a doctor should merely suggest, not “prescribe”, thereby shifting responsibility (to a large extent) to the consumer.
I trust a doctor doesn’t believe he is God and only he knows the “right” medicine (particularly since doctors can’t cure anything but the most simple cases, anyway). The failures of doctors are just so many, and so chronic (I’ve documented a few on my blog – virtually 98 per cent failure rate), it is simply improper to give monopoly gatekeeping rights to drugs to “doctors”.
Sanjeev Sabhlok Yadu, I’m only asking this: why does a doctor need regulatory rights (state protection) to prescribe? That’s a monopoly. Why not a free market in medicines, just like you have a free market in foods?
In my model there are NO prescription medicines. All medicines are available freely without prescription. Doctors can suggest a medicine A, but I may, depending on my own understanding of things (often being more specific to my particular problem), either buy A or choose something else: B, or do something else altogether.
Even a doctor should merely suggest, not “prescribe”, thereby shifting responsibility (to a large extent) to the consumer.
I trust a doctor doesn’t believe he is God and only he knows the “right” medicine (particularly since doctors can’t cure anything but the most simple cases, anyway). The failures of doctors are just so many, and so chronic (I’ve documented a few on my blog – virtually 98 per cent failure rate), it is simply improper to give monopoly gatekeeping rights to drugs to “doctors”.
Yadu Singh:
Too many “Dr Sanjeev Sabhloks” without knowledge, accountability, medical registration and insurance will cause mayhem. What you are suggesting is nothing but recipe for disaster. You are entitled to self-harm but harming others is definitely a crime here in Australia! Anyne who follows your advice is going to be in serious trouble-medically and legally.
Sanjeev Sabhlok:
Thanks, Yadu. You have made your points. Let me address your issues in a separate blog post as soon as I find time.
Yadu Singh
When I said that people will be in trouble -medically and legally, I meant following. If people self-diagnose and self-medicate, they are likely to be in trouble health wise. If people start pretending to doctors-start diagnosing other people’s medical problems and start prescribing, without medical training and registration, they will be committing crimes in Australia.
With the advent of internet and easy access to enormous information, I have found that its comparatively easier to guess what ails you. Doctors do not exactly know more than the informed patient. Patient lives with his ailment for hours and days while doctor has five minutes to decide whats wrong with the patient. Doctors oftentimes have biased views and many of them are clueless and depend on their experience.
I have found that doctors in India routenly prescribe anti-biotics without confirming whether its really bacterial infection (and what type of bacteria). I have had doctors (in the US) botching up a very simple cauterizing.
At the same time, I have found that many people self-treat to disastrous effects.
I have fairly good experience with doctors but as a profession its overrated…especially general practice.
For surgery, of course, a qualified doctor is a must. Millions of surgeries have become routine just because of progress in medical sciences.
——————–
In summary, doctors are important but they need to get their act together. General practice is not that complecated and GPs need to understand that patients can be better informed than themselves.
Dr Yadu Singh is taking his license to practice in Australia a litle too seriously. I tend to agree with Sanjeev that medical profession needs an overhaul and doctors need to get a report card and ratings.
For general practitioners, most of it is a game of inferences coupled with some rudimentary knowledge of pharmacology. IMO, when people visit a doctor, his/her morale is already low and the doctor comes in as a all-knowing messiah and establishes his/her authority.
I do not know if opening market of medicines is necessarily a good idea but its about time to bring a larger number of medicines in the OTC list.
To me its a stupidity beyond limits to make medicines such as Viagra available only thru prescriptions! But I guess, its a free $100 for doctors.
Sanjeev:
1. Your idea of a ‘free market of drugs’ like ‘free market for foods’ is not practical. Medicines can be misused. In India, quacks prescribe medicines without even knowing a bit about them, with fatal outcomes. I have seen quacks prescribing/injecting steriods to neonates for no valid indication.
2. Your idea that doctors should just suggest/recommend a medicine, largely pushing the onus on consumer also does not hold much practical wisdom. Yes, doctors should explain options and let the patient decide/help patient decide. And the latter often happens.
It is not a question of monopoly. It is about safeguarding interests. What ‘fun’ I am going to get if I have a monopoly over a certain drug, say ceftriaxone (antibiotic). In fact, the state wants me to use this judiciously, that is why, it wants me to get registered with the Medical Board so that it could safeguard patients’ interests as needed! This also ensures that a quack can not prescribe ceftraixone (unlike in India where it is free for all).