Back to index of Nerve 20 - Summer 2012

Is the Cure Worse than the Disease?

By Marie Harrison
Time for Reflection by John O’Neill

“Hello Peter! Long time no see! You must be retired by now.”

“Oh yes, Barbara. It’s a shame I couldn’t do it before - it’s no pleasure when you’ve got knees like mine.”

“I know what you mean - I’ve been on three kinds of pills for my arthritis: all of them useless.”

“Well my blood pressure is such a problem; I’m on eight kinds of medication and not allowed to drink!”

“My arthritis pills give me indigestion and the doctor said he could prescribe something, but I might feel nauseous or get constipated. Well, I didn’t, but I got these headaches and he had to give me a strong painkiller which did give me nausea and constipation.”

“Things are bad when you need a cure for the cure, Barbara!”

“Peter - I sometimes wonder if we would be better off without doctors!”

Is there any truth in the suggestion that it is indeed the doctor who is causing all this sickness among the over sixties? Well according to writer Ivan Illich the answer is yes! Illich believes that it’s in doctors’ interests to keep their patients sick. By increasing the amount of medication given they increase side effects that need to be treated, and in this way they protect their own professional expertise and ensure permanent full-time employment for themselves. It’s a bit extreme I know, and probably untrue, but there could be something in it. Perhaps patients are being over-medicated and perhaps some doctors are given credit for curing a disease that would have gone away of its own accord.

Whatever Illich argues, the fact is that the majority of the population over 60 does have medical problems which are often treated with a range of medication. Many medicines have side effects and it is these that often cause the most discomfort to the patient, leading to an excessive prescription of medication to deal with this.

I was recently prescribed a drug called Alendronic Acid. The very name gives a clue as to whether it will be problematic when taken! I always believed that anything with acid in was to be avoided at all costs and this particular drug was no exception. The list of 34 common side effects - of which the patient can expect to experience all or some - reads like a poisons manual. Alarming things like changes in the sense of taste, hair loss, pain or difficulty in swallowing, ulceration of the oesophagus…

This is enough to make you question what your doctor prescribes, at least!

Good Health!!!

Ref. Illich I 1976. Limits to Medicine. Medical nemesis: The expropriation of Health. Penguin

Printer friendly page

Sorry Comments Closed

Comments are closed on this article