Today, it's more important than ever to play the lead part in directing your health care. Health care costs are out of control. The mult-billion dollar industry is riddled with corruption. Your health has become a monetary instrument driven by ideas of greed rather than your well being.
"So tell me something that I don't already know!"
Working for corporate America has taught me a lot about managing problems and costs associated with problems. Big multi billion dollar corporations have a lot of resources. They employ people of the likes that are the smartest in thier field, so its very fitting that we should learn a lot from how they do things.
The most beneficial of these techniques that we should all know about is tiered drug costs. So much about drug prescriptions is wrong! Like any other problem, the solution should be driven by data driven decisions (the 3 D's). Too many times, drugs are prescribed without that consideration.
The fact that prescription drugs are advertised to the general public on television is one big red flag. After they go on for at least twenty seconds of the one minute ad about side effects, they always end with a suggestion: "Ask your doctor if our product is right for you!" You can believe that this has a significant effect, or else the expensive advertising would not happen.
Pharmaceutical representatives are another ever present force at every available clinic outlet in America. Their purpose is to "educate" the practitioners of their latest drug offerings. They even go so far as to leave a few free samples. The next one is going to cost you though. Sound familiar?
And then you have the doctors own experience to contend with. In their mind, they've had X number of patients really benefit from the prescribed drug and particular brand, so it becomes their prominent first choice.
It is also common place for practitioners to prescribe a pain killer along with the treatment. What have we become? A nation of wussies? I've heard the usual idea that if you are not in pain, your body can recover easier. No wonder deaths from overdose on pain meds has reached epidemic proportions!
And antibiotics are another shotgun approach. The flawed reasoning behind that is it could cure a secondary infection, just in case it arises. And we wonder how superbugs get antibiotics resistance?
The mega corporations in partnership with the mega insurers work together to manage those type of problems. Based upon data and research, they come up with a listing of drugs prescribed for ailments. Then they went to the trouble to list those drugs in order of most effective, lowest cost first and in cascading order to least effective and greatest cost. But they skip an entire industry and fundamental treatment all together!
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration...
"Why the hell not!"
You see the disclaimer on every vitamin, mineral, herb, or natural supplement sold. These are remedies that have been known for decades and in some cases centuries, but the FDA hasn't gotten around to evaluating them? I think I can tell you why: there's not billions of dollars available in it.
But it doesn't change the fact that there is a whole myriad of natural supplements available that stand a good chance of helping your problem. They are a fraction of the cost and with fewer side effects ( if taken at the correct dosage.) Dosage should be a concern with anything that enters your body. "Poison is in the dosage."
You can often read government warnings about side effects associated with natural remedies. How can this be if they have not been evaluated? Nevertheless, there are plenty of negative side effects associated with just about anything. In many cases, though you find those are with overdoses. If you overdose on a pharmacuetical recommended by your doctor what do you think will happen?
Thankfully there are highly trained (but often underutilized) people that can help you sort all of this out. Pharmacists can do a whole lot more than fill prescriptions. They can recommend natural supplements and correct dosages. They get a lot of formal training on everything available. If you can find a good one and establish a working relationship with them, they should be your first line of response.
There's a whole lot of other people with a wealth of knowledge about alternative and natural remedies. They are not rigidly regulated as the medical community, but a little bit of experience and learning on your own part can overcome those problems. Health food stores can employ experts, chiropractors are an excellent source, as well as naturopathy and homeopathy.
So what I am suggesting is developing your own hierarchy for directing your own health care. List your options and order them. It doesn't matter who you are, and it's not a matter of if, but when you will need it! Much better to plan your work before you work your plan.
Gone are the days when you can just dump your personal responsibility on the closest, most readily available doc in the box. Take control. Ask questions. And make decisions. You will thank yourself for it.
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