Heart Patients Shun Free Prescription Drugs

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The mainstream and Big Pharma are in a right old tiz! Why? Simply because some of us have been very, very naughty...

A recent study, involving heart attack survivors, offered prescription drugs, like the cholesterol-lowering statin Lipitor, to the participants FREE... and guess what? The US researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston found that many of the patients still didn't 'bother' to take their medicine.

You've been very bad indeed

"My God, we gave these people the medicines for free and only half took it," said one of the researchers, Dr Elliott Antman. In fact, they couldn't even give the stuff away: The researchers had trouble just signing patients up to take part in the study.

The study was led by Dr Niteesh Choudhry, and the results were published in The New England Journal of Medicine. The researchers did not look into the reasons why people didn't take their medications, but they speculated that one of the reasons was down to forgetfulness. Most of these drugs mean three pills a day or more, for the rest of a patient's life.

Dr Eric Peterson of Duke University, who had no role in the study, lamented, "Adherence in the US, is miserable", and added that only 10 per cent of patients are taking all of the medicines prescribed to them, one year after a heart attack.

I must say, the word 'adherence' made me laugh... What Dr Peterson really means, is that patients don't listen to their doctors, don't believe what their doctors tell them and they also don't follow instructions about the Pharma concoctions prescribed to them...

Don't get me wrong, suffering a heart attack is very serious and recovery is often difficult and prolonged... In many cases, taking drugs initially may be necessary. However, what the mainstream doesn't realise is that when people don't take their prescription medicine it's not just down to forgetfulness, pure ignorance or not being 'bothered'... They might just know better.

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Plenty of other reasons

Take cholesterol-lowering statins, for instance. These hideous drugs come with terrible side effects like liver dysfunction, kidney failure, myopathy, fatigue, sexual dysfunction and memory loss, to mention but a few. Who on earth would want to face any of these side effects on top of recovering from a heart attack? Certainly not me! Especially, if I was told to take this poison along with other side effect ridden drugs for the rest of my life! And apparently, there are quite a few other people out there who feel the same.

Then there's the fact that doctors push these drugs so hard and don't even consider discussing alternative options with their patients. People aren't idiots, many have realised by now that behind these so-called 'wonder drugs', lies massive incentives paid out to doctors from unscrupulous pharmaceutical giants...

The bottom line is this: Patients want choices. None of us likes being 'told' and doctors have, for far too long, exercised a heavy-handedness by forcing patients to 'adhere' to the 'laws' of modern medicine.

If I had a heart attack, I'd want my doctor to lay out all the treatment options available that could assist my recovery. First, I'd want to hear about what changes to make in my diet and lifestyle. Then I'd want to know what exercise regime to follow and what progress I could expect. Along with that, I'd want to learn about every heart healthy nutrient and supplement that is available.

Then (and only then), would I be slightly more willing to discuss drug treatments if drug therapy was viewed as a short-term treatment plan, making up a small part of a comprehensive recovery plan... Instead, of walking away after a 15 minute consultation with a truck load of pills and concoctions that can cause who knows how many side effects, and feeling that I've just been handed a life sentence by Big Pharma.

The fact that people weren't even prepared to sign up to this study, is enough of an indication that the mainstream needs to rethink their approach to medicine. They also need to get used to the fact that people aren't sheep, we can think for ourselves... and that's the message they should take home from the results of this study.

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Sources:

Study finds many patients shun free heart drugs, published online 14.11.11, news.yahoo.com