By Atty. Antonio P. Pekas

There was this doctor whose patient was suffering from persistent hypertension (high blood). He did not do sufficient interviewing of the patient who is a senior citizen. He did not ask about his lifestyle—like diet and exercise and work related stress. He did not even ask what he did for a living.
He just prescribed two medicines, one to be taken in the morning and another one at night. In just about a week, the patient’s “high blood” went down to normal and the doctor was happy. But then the side effects started manifesting—drowsiness and bloated feet. So the patient went back to the doctor and he changed one of the medicines but nothing happened.
Apparently, he prescribed again a medicine known to cause bloating of the lower extremities. So definitely the patient went back again to the same doctor. Before that however the patient talked about his drowsiness to friends who knew nothing about the medical profession, much less about prescription. From their experience, however, they said the medicines might be too strong for the patient. Common sense?
But when the patient went back to the doctor, he prescribed vitamins for the drowsiness and some tight socks to prevent the bloating. The patient tried the vitamins but nothing happened. He did not care about buying the expensive tight socks as the remedy was just to treat the symptom and not the cause. Instead, he shopped around for a second opinion, actually the third because another doctor told him the first doctor did not actually change one of the drugs first prescribed. The other drug which was supposed to be a replacement had the same side effects.
When he went to the third doctor, he was prescribed what was “common sensical”. Just one maintenance drug with some diuretic in it so the patient would pee out the water causing the bloating which was experienced only when the patient started taking maintenance drugs. And only one pill everyday, not two.
The patient immediately felt the effect. The bloating started to subside and he was not feeling any drowsiness anymore. Of course the doctor knew the not so bad lifestyle of the patient and lab results showed everything was normal. So hopelessly damaged kidneys was ruled out.
It appeared the first doctor in prescribing two pills wanted immediate relief so the patient would feel good but perhaps the two pills were an overkill.
Similarly, there was one patient I know who had some heart problems—the physical one not the romantic type. Her doctor prescribed “strong medicines” that almost killed her. She developed stomach ulcers to the extent she stopped eating. When she consulted another doctor referred by a relative, he was shocked because the patient could have died due to the medicines.
I guess the “killer” doctor wanted immediate relief without care about the side effects. Certainly, the immediate relief will keep the money flowing even if the patient was slowly moving to her grave.
The moral of the story is to first ask around and it won’t hurt to get a second or even third opinion. A trusted doctor friend or relative can be very important as he would know the who’s who in the field.
Health is wealth, isn’t it?
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