Posted by Meri-Tuuli on April 3, 2006, at 15:49:25
In reply to Re: So If You Live In The UK? » ed_uk, posted by yxibow on April 3, 2006, at 15:08:10
Hi Jay!!
> Its really atrocious that life enhancing and saving medications (i.e. getting housebound people out into the public), even the smallest dose of benzodiazepines are disdained upon by the NHS. Of course maybe one could circuitously freeze this by going to a private doctor. But I imagine the costs would be much greater than NHS.
Well, the NHS costs nothing. We pay a set fee for all drugs, which is about $9 per script, no matter whats being prescribed! But, obviously, we pay more tax, the NHS is funded through tax, but it is free to everybody and generally nobody really has private operations. Unless its for cosmetic reasons... As much as I moan about the NHS, I do generally think it is a good thing. I would hate to have to pay for my healthcare directly and I even think it morally wrong in a way. I mean, I couldn't believe that people in the US actually beg for money to have an operation - I saw this on a trip there. But then, if you have the money, you get the healthcare that you need as opposed to here where they are pretty bad for mental healthcare... But that said, I think the NHS is pretty good for everything other than mental health.... I mean what do you do in America if you have cancer and can't afford to pay for treatment? Do you just have to accept it? I don't know, I honesty can't imagine having to worry about paying directly for my healthcare or having health insurance.... it somehow seems wrong to me.
But then I'm not entirely sure I would like to have it like in the US where people are on a cocktail of 5 pysch meds. That just seems plain scary to me. I don't know. I sometimes think that the med companies push their drugs abit too hard onto GPs and patients. American doctors (and patients?) seem abit too pill happy for me.
Maybe a middle ground between the US and the UK would be good.
Take care
Meri
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> Of course I speak as a user of (prescribed) high dose benzodiazpines (for a specific disorder that is quite atrocious), but I used to take lower doses frequently in the past of things like Klonopin to augment antidepressants, etc here in the US. Yes, we have the looming DEA, but if you present a good case to a doctor you're likely to get some response for necessary medications. And then we pay more here too, since we don't have the NHS or Canada to regulate drug prices. Argh...
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> My 2c
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> -- Jay
poster:Meri-Tuuli
thread:627071
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060403/msgs/628339.html