DOCTOR DOCTOR ......

'' I FEEL SO BAD ..." 

Doctor, doctor, I feel so bad
This is the worst day, I ever had
Have you this misery a very long time?
Well if you if, I'll lay it on the line
You've got to put on your sailin' shoes
Put on your sailing shoes
Everyone will start to cheer
When you put on your sailin' shoes

And we know that Lowell George died of a heart attack after a heroin overdose.

 

Richard wrote a post recently: IS THERE A REASON THERE IS SUFFERING IN THIS WORLD? which, although he was giving a bit of stick to a Hutt Valley church, asks a very big question - one that religions have not to date satisfactorily answered.

The existence of pain, suffering and unhappiness is grist to the mill for charlatans and fraudsters who prey on the weak and the inflicted for their own means - usually money. Yes I am talking of churches here in their many forms but also I'm talking of the pharmaceutical industry and the bogus and fringe medical industries. We are all familiar with the internet and TV advertisements for quick cures, diet regimes and health boosts. The Health supplements industry is really just a modern form of the 19th century snake oil sellers.

I'm in the middle of watching a Netflix series - Painkillers about the development of oxycontin, one of the worst and most addictive opioid medications that killed hundreds of thousands of people in the USA, destroyed families and communities all while making an evil and conniving 'drug baron' family rich beyond measure. These soulless bastards knowingly peddled their poison to the vulnerable and had the gall to appear as philanthropists and indeed saints, helping society. Bastards! Thank Robert's god that they got their comeuppance but at what cost?

SACKLER FAMILY WEASEL OUT

 

Six billion dollars is a lot of money for sure but this family squirrelled away a lot more and now it seems they are again evading responsibility for the mess that they created and are trying to appear like the good guys. Bastards! 

The Sacklers - sack of shits that they are might have been exposed and reinvented themselves but the money grabbing hasn't gone away. The medical profession has a lot to answer for in unnecessarily prescribing high dosed and potentially addictive medications in order to give patients quick fixes (pun intended). Years ago a useless and incompetent GP prescribed Di-Gesic for my mother who was having hip pain. Di-Gesic was banned in USA and in Australia and New Zealand before being subsequently relisted after lobbying from the manufacturers.

When my sister, who is a doctor, discovered what mum was prescribed she asked her to dump the lot and then remonstrated with the GP, an elderly chap she had no confidence in. She arranged for mum to be transferred to another doctor's clinic nearby but to date wishes that she had reported the first GP to the medical council for this and for other mistakes.

A few years ago I underwent the worst pain in my life with a bout of shingles. A doctor at a walk-in clinic in Auckland prescribed some very strong pain killers which knocked me about a bit. When I returned to Whangarei I told my regular GP about this and the side effects and after discussion the strongest form of analgesic I take is paracetamol.

The Old Girl, when she had a hip replacement operation a few years ago, again in Auckland was prescribed some very strong medication that had high doses of codeine in it. I hope it wasn't oxycontin. She used it briefly but discontinued as soon as possible because it was making her woozy. 

I believe that in these cases prescribing such strong medication was an easy way out and should not have hapenned but it seems to be the way now that GP practices and medical centres are owned and run by commercial businesses. Patient well-being is secondary to profit and quick turnaround.

Oxycontin might at long last be under control but new, more powerful and more dangerous opioids are wreaking havoc anew, the worst being fentanyl.

It's the downside of human nature I guess. People going for pleasure regardless of consequences and unscrupulous bastards - snake oil salesmen and priests - taking advantage of them and meeting their needs.

Lady in a turban, cocaine tree
Does a dance so rhythmically
She's cryin', and a singin' and having a time
and gee that cocaine tree look fine
You've got to put on your sailin' shoes
Put on your sailing shoes