I was reading again, (yes, this is what I do best) and I was looking at the column in the paper The People’s Pharmacy. You might have seen this syndicated column in your own newspaper. I enjoy this column, written by two pharmacists, who help people understand the differences between conventional drug therapy and alternative therapies.
Anyway, on this date, (February 13, 2012), a reader writes in and asks a question concerning powerful acid suppressing drugs. In particular, she was asking about Prevacid. Her comments were that she had read the patient insert, was concerned about the possible side effects of hip fractures. I would imagine from the context clues in the letter, that she is an older woman, who is concerned about osteoporosis.
When she brought the side effects to her doctor’s attention, particularly the one that says: “women who took PPIs were 30-35% more likely to fracture a hip during the eight years of followup” (BMJ online, January 31, 2012), her doctor said “Don’t read so much.”
How very demeaning and dismissive of the doctor. He should be ashamed of himself. I have myself encountered just such attitudes from my own doctors. Nevertheless, we are the champions of our own health. Our doctors may not be concerned, but that does not relieve us of our own responsibility to ourselves.
Unnecessary roughness… I sentence the doctor to time in the penalty box.
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Until next time,
Polly
