Doctor Makes a Funny at Bunny
I received this Email yesterday from a board certified physician (note that his spelling is more or less on par with Mistress Sparkle):
"I am writing you to tell you that I think your latest entry on your blog is very offenseve. It is irresponsible of you to suggest that people should be second guessing lisensed physicians and seeking out herbal cures. Next time you feel ill, or find worms in your fecal matter, see a real doctor and get a prescription for Mebendazole. Use your brain, Bunny."
Read closely, asshole...I suggest/recommend absolutely nothing in my stories. In fact, my stories are all about the mistakes that I make in life, and how one can avoid making the same mistakes. Should an adult, thinking, breathing, independent human being read my Enema story and choose to repeat my actions, they know quite well what the outcome is going to be. What happens next is a product of their stupidity, not mine.
My opinion of the medical profession remains unyielding. If I need a quick fix for something topical, I will certainly see a doctor. If I want long-lasting internal health and well being, I will ignore that doctor. Again, I do not suggest/recommend that anyone do the same. I only work from my own experience.
In this particular case, my roundworm infestation, I took three herbs. The herbs effectively killed more than three different types of worms I was carrying, adults, offspring and eggs, and the only side effect was diarrhea and anxiety. This herbal cure has been used for over two thousand years. It effectively kills over one hundred species of parasites.
Doctor prescribed Mebendazole is only capable of killing one species of worm, the pinworm, the one worm I didn't have. Roundworms, the worms I did have in spades, have developed resistance to Mebendazole.
Should Mebendazole miraculously kill roundworms, it only kills the worm, not the eggs. So when the eggs hatch, the infestation starts all over again. Side effects include stomach upset, loss of appetite, diarrhea, fever, headache, dizziness, drowsiness, rash, dark urine, abdominal pain, yellowing of the eyes and skin, itching, and swelling. It has killed patients in the past by reacting with other prescription drugs.
Had I gone on Mebendazole, I would have essentially killed nothing and felt like a can of smashed assholes. Mr. Board Certified Physician, why even prescribe it? Because the evil corporation that makes Mebendazole takes you out for lobster dinners? Well, okay then.
I've come to expect this kind of incompetence when I visit a doctor, which is why I DON'T BLINDLY TRUST THEM.
I may be self destructive, excessively experimental, or even naïve, but I do use my brain. In doing so, I've found out that each year, doctor-prescribed drugs kill more Americans than street drugs. Drug Abuse Warning Network statistics indicate less than 10,000 deaths annually from illegal drugs. 130,000 Americans actually die in hospitals each year from prescription medication. (Whitaker, J. in Health and Healing, September 1993 Supplement, Phillips Publishing, p 3).
What's more, psychiatrists, doctors, hospitals and drug companies make billions off chronically ill patients. It is not in their best interest to provide long-lasting internal health and well being. Should Americans figure out that a cheap and natural alternative exists, that they could replace the chemistry their doctor is pushing with stuff from a plant, they would be out of a job. Many people would be out of a job. Oh no, you evil HMO's!
In conclusion...if I break my leg, I'm going straight to a doctor. They are quite heroic during emergency situations. When I'm there, I won't inquire about anything else. Not even the PMS that is making this entry so bitchy.
Comments
I am in total agreeance with you on that one doctors are just salesman, selling you all kinds of prescriptions, that you really dont need.
Posted by: Rob at August 19, 2005 02:59 PM
I disagree with your painting of ALL doctors as salesman and shucksters. I think almost all doctors believe what they are doing is right, and that their cure is the best cure for what ails you. Most of them are not acting out of malice, but ignorance.
Bunny Edit: I like to make negative generalizations about large groups of PC people. This is because it is funny, and not because I believe that all doctors are crooks.
However, I know a lot of doctors. 1% of them are in it for the benevolence. 99% are in it to prove they are superior to everyone else.
Posted by: Mitch at August 24, 2005 06:04 AM
Wow, I never really thought about Doctors prescribing medicines like that just to make money. That sucks...for some reason reminds me of the movie Requiem for a dream (sp?)
Oh well, that's good that you have all that experience to not let them screw you over!
Posted by: Lars ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.thebunnyblog.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at September 9, 2005 11:26 AM
Doctors are completely useless. My dad almost died from the last Quack misdiagnosing him. He spent 2 seperate stints of 2 weeks in the hospital in consecutive months...
Posted by: Durbanite at November 5, 2005 08:46 PM
I understand that the most recent response to this post was in November of 2005, so it is unlikely that anyone will actually care about this response, but I feel compelled to address some misconceptions about the medical profession. As background: I am a doctor, specifically a Psychiatry resident in Chicago.
I think that the usual perception of practicioners of medicine as being unconcerned with disease prevention and actual wellness is incorrect. Every doctor I have ever met agrees: the achievement of long-term health is everyone's goal. Every patient who becomes well enough to never need to enter my office again is a success story. Part of the problem is that we are not very good at communicating to people those things that would be best for their long-term health. We would love it if everyone would eat right, exercise, stop abusing alcohol, stop smoking, and stop abusing drugs. These things alone would vastly reduce the need for the medical professions (including those disciplines labeled as alternative). We want people to do these things. We tell people to do these things, but we are not good at convincing people to change something as pervasive as lifestyle. So, there are few who take our advice, because these are some of the hardest changes to actually maintain on a long-term basis.
I don't want anyone to remain ill if there is anything I can do to stop it. Yes, you are correct, my income is dependent on people who are ill, but there is enough illness in the world without needing to withhold information from my patients to artifically prolong their difficulties. There may be doctors who engage in such disgusting practices, but please understand that the majority of us do not and regard such individuals the same way you do: as quacks undeserving of a medical license.
As for the functional illiterate who claimed to be a doctor and recommended mebendazole, I can only hope that this person is not considered representative of medicine in general. Most reputable physicians are somewhat hesitant about recommending treatment to a person who they have never even met or examined. I, personally, have no knowledge of the herbal medication you used and cannot comment on it, but I am glad that you recovered. I think that the other position articulated in this "doctor"'s letter -- that the doctor's opinion should not be questioned -- is a very unfortunate and dangerous one. Everyone make mistakes, and no one can possibly know everything. I welcome questioning, second- and third-guessing, challenging, and confrontation from all of my patients, and I think that most of my colleagues do as well.
Well, I seem to have trailed off a bit at the end, so I think that I'll just sort of stop here, except to say that doctors are, in general, well-intentioned people who actually do want to help people by curing and, when possible, preventing illness and promoting overall wellness. I would only ask that everyone out there who is suspicious of the allopathic medical establishment to bring the same level of skepticism to bear on the practitioners of alternative systems of healing, as it is your health on the line, and no one should be exempt from being able to produce reproducible evidence that a given therapy is both safe and effective.
Posted by: Countertransference at March 25, 2006 07:31 AM
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