DORIS and ETHEL

It strikes me as more than a little disconcerting that the acne crème you might be talked into using by a well-intentioned doctor might result in heart failure or stroke.  It seems odd that diarrhoea could be the side effect of yet another prescription for anti-depressants. I would find not being able to get off the toilet rather depressing. Actually on that front, most of the anti-depressants have many depressing side effects.

The part that I don’t really understand is how much comparatively worse some of these side effects seem than the ailment that they drug is meant to cure. Usually for Ethel and me, a good cup (okay pot) of coffee can cure most of these ailments to the point where when we check in the bother diary and find we are not so bothered by the problem from the beginning. It certainly complicates the issue to have suddenly found that the “cure” for your horribly disfiguring mild case of eczema is “in a few cases death.” It also complicates things when you have to tell your doctor to prescribe you these prescription-only “cures” after you make an appointment to get the prescription. It certainly sounds like a drug company attempting to monopolize a market and create huge demand for… (Dare I say it?) an unnecessary product.

Just a few thoughts,
Doris

I’m more than slightly disturbed with some of the more fatal side effects of the drugs that some “well intentioned” doctors prescribe to deal with way less fatal medical “problem.” From the prime time television it would appear that you can either have acne or maybe clear skin with only a possible stroke. It’s interesting how completely unrelated some of these side effects are to the medical situation that the doctors are trying to fix.