Free at Last, Free at Last - Escaping the Medical Profession; Well, Maybe.

Everybody claims they “don’t watch TV,” with the hint that they are above that pastime.  Bushwah.  TV (and other passive media choices – in other words, stuff that just lets you watch passively) are universal.  As for me, I often have TV (etc.) on as background noise --  Sometimes it’s some sort of news, sometimes an old movie that I know by heart, but it fills up the room with something predictable.

Of course, the oligarchs know that and try to sell me stuff endlessly.  (Hey, they might not be oligarchs – in fact, I’m not even sure what that term really means, but Bernie’s against them and the term is a part of the current evil-speak.  It makes me sound up-to-date.)  Part of what they want to sell me is drugs or “natural” preparations which you use like drugs, but being natural are something different.  (There is a post there lurking somewhere, and perhaps I’ll get around to writing it.  Perhaps not.  Depending on my muse is a chancy proposition.)

Some well-known physician – “Dr. Drew,” a TV personality – is pushing an “Urgent Care Kit.”  It's available at "UrgentCareKit.com," which redirects you to a site called "twc.health". The kit purports to free you from going to the doctor sometimes.   It provides eight drugs which - I understand - require prescriptions from a doctor.  Dr. Drew, etc., tout the convenience of not having to go to a doctor or an urgent care center when you get sick. 

Ok, forewarned is forearmed.  We can all count on occasionally needing some sort of drugs.   And, yes, it is a pain in the ass to be sick and go to the doctor’s office.  At first blush, it sounds like a good idea.

Now, it sounds to ME like a good idea, but my doctorate is not in anything related to medicine.  Perhaps someone with a medical education will have a different idea.  How about it?

TWC must do alright – What they are selling as a “medical emergency kit” costs $299.99.  (The site also has other products.)  Beats me if they ship for free.  The website has 1500-plus reviews, so we know that they’ve taken in $450,000 anyway.  That qualifies as the low end of “real money.”  They must be serious.  And I’ve seen Dr. Drew commenting on the news about health, so I bet he’s a helluva doc.

 Obviously, they have to prescribe these drugs, but I have zero idea how they do it when the patient is not yet sick.  Well, that’s their problem.  I suppose they have solved it to the satisfaction of the government.

 According to the website, the “kit” includes:

     Amoxicillin-Clavulanate (generic Augmentin™)

    Azithromycin (generic Z-Pak™)

    Doxycycline

    Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole (generic Bactrim™)

    Metronidazole (generic Flagyl™)

    Ivermectin

    Fluconazole (generic Diflucan™)

    Ondansetron (generic Zofran™)

 I can pronounce the names of the drugs.  When I do that, I feel tingly all over.  But I bet pronunciation is only a minor part of understanding what they do.  Surely medical schools teach more than good pronunciation.

 The makers also include a “booklet.”  I bet that must tell you when to take which drug.  (Is that how doctors learn, from a "booklet"?  I hope not.)  No doubt the makers tell you how often to take it and how long.  I also bet they tell you that if you don’t get better, you should . . . take another drug? Punt?  Maybe go to a doctor?

 I know roughly what an antibiotic is supposed to do.  Whenever I picture an antibiotic, I think of Alexander Fleming trying to figure out what is killing the bacteria in his petri dish.  I bet they do things differently these days, but I’m not sure.   Beyond that, I hear that drugs work even if the patient doesn’t have a clue how.  As to whatever is on the list which is not an antibiotic, I’d bet good money that they work on some illness, or they wouldn’t be included.  But what illness they make better is a mystery to me.

 That whole idea of the “booklet” bothers me just a little.  If I am a medical-ignoramus, am I really qualified to figure out what’s wrong with me?  Does the booklet include some advice which can be understood by the average person?  In the US, the average reading level is 8^th grade.  One-fifth of people have trouble with 4^th grade materials.  This seems rather like a challenge for the authors of a really good booklet.

 I’d love to have my medically educated friends try to steer me to understand if this whole thing is a good idea or a waste of money.  I'm not qualified to know.

 But, hey, if you are charged with murder, I'll get you off.  Or at least wave as you are led away by the sheriff.

 Mizpah!