Statins again

Picture courtesy of the Alliance for Human Research Protection

I have been overwhelmed by the information sent to me about the problems with statins. Thank you to all the people who did refer me to the right places. Thank you too to my net-friend who has always counselled about their over-promotion and extreme side effects, the inclination for that person to say a big 'I told you so' has so far been ignored and I am grateful for that.

What I have learned though is that these days we can't take anything our medics tell us at face value. I'm not GP bashing here so I hope that NHSblogdoctor doesn't get all irate on me. Our front-line doctors are not specialists that's what they're called GENERAL Practitioners, they are only as good as the information they are given. If the government and Big Pharma is pushing a certain view it is easier and less time consuming to accept that 'wisdom'. I didn't initially think I needed to challenge the advice that WH was given either, and I didn't. Now I have I am shocked.

One piece of my research has really brought the message home. Just watching this was like looking at WH in the litle box, ignoring the northern accent and substituting a deep westcountry burr, is like watching WH in the little tv screen. It could be him up there reciting his experiences. So it looks like this statin problem really has come to haunt us.

It is a sad indictment of these times that patients with complex medical problems now have to research their treatments themselves to ensure that the drugs they are prescribed for 'their own good' are not the cause of much of their wider illness. The drug companies have a stranglehold over the governments, the medics and the public at large the world over and make obscene amounts of money by peddling their 'non cures'. The big question is, how the hell do we stop them?

So that's how they shorten the waiting lists

This is the diary of someone I know on a NHS waiting list.

Mid January: Patient goes to their GP and is referred to a speciality clinic.

February: An appointment is received for 9 March.

9 March: Patient turns up to the clinic and is told that they had been sent the wrong date by mistake; there was no one there to see them. A new appointment is made.

12 March: Patient attends first session at clinic which is basically filling in some forms and a brief 5 minute chat. An appointment is made for to begin a course of treatment in April.

April: The treatment clinic appointment is cancelled by telephone the day before it is due to take place because the patient has been referred to 'the wrong type of person'. A referral to another clinic will be made.

May: Patient calls up and asks why they had heard nothing. They are told that their referral letter has been lost and the clinic will have to ask the GP for another one.

Early June: GP calls the patient and says he has been asked to do another referral, do they still need it.

Mid June: Patient receives a letter for an appointment on 9th Sept .

Late June: Patient receives a phone call saying the appointment date on the letter was wrong and a new one would be sent. Receives another letter changing it to 10th Sept

9 Sept: Patient receives a phone call cancelling tomorow's appointment because the referral should have been sent to the Primary Care Trust and not the Community Health Team so the referral has to be made again.

NHS Choices has this to say about waiting lists:

Since 01 January 2006, no patient in England should have to wait more than 13 weeks from when they see their GP and the decision is made that a referral to a specialist is necessary, and their first outpatient appointment.

Well we know better don't we? This way, the patient gets off the waiting list and has to start again, best of all they receive no costly treatment so are saving the NHS money too. Wonderful isn't it? There is no involvement from any medically qualified staff at all, it can all be managed by pen pushers.

RESULT! A cost saving and a shorter waiting list to boot. And I thought that the NHS was here to treat us.

It's just a shame that NHSblogdoctor is still on holiday, he'd enjoy this one.

Psychiatrists play God - Again.

Cartoon unashamedly pinched from Dr Speedy's Nice Blog

NHS Blogdoctor is on the case again, this time railing against the influence Psychiatrists have on the NHS in a post with a wider theme, that of the Rise of the Healthcare Professionals.

This quote from the Times yesterday (26.06.08) particularly took my eye:

People suffering from mental illness are frequently being misdiagnosed or receiving inadequate treatment, according to a group of leading psychiatrists. The doctors say that patients with serious problems are often referred to psychologists and social workers rather than clinicians and do not receive the medical therapies they need.

“If a GP suspected a patient had cancer, he wouldn't dream of referring him to anybody other than a cancer specialist. A cancer patient might need jollying along, but what he really needs is the correct diagnosis and treatment. That's what he gets from a specialist. But patients with mental illness are not automatically referred to psychiatrists. If they only see a social worker, there's every chance that mental illness, or underlying physical illness, will be missed. Patients are getting a bum deal.” (Professor Nick Craddock)

Now substitute the words 'mental illness' with ME. See what I mean? Looks like now the psychiatrists are too busy treating people with ME, which of course as we all know is 'all in the mind', to be bothered to treat their own patients.

Back on the case

Some extremely good news for the new year, Dr Crippen is alive and well and posting again. After rumours of his demise and a spoof obituary, John Crippen has surfaced again after his unscheduled autumn break and I for one am extremely pleased about it. His diagnosis of the NHS is spot on and the points he raises are the concerns of all of us, not just the chronically sick like me. As I have said countless times before, the NHS has done very little to help me over the last 16 years and my recovery and treatment are entirely due to the private sector.

I look forward to new ideas and ever more anger from the good doctor, it really is great to see him back.

Compare and Contrast

I know I know, no post for a week then two on the same day but I am celebrating.

Just compare this post written last November and my other post today. What is the difference?

I'll tell you what.

I have a diagnosis after 15 years. I am not a basket case, I have a bacterial infection. That infection is the causative agent of Lyme disease. Most importantly I am having treatment. After 11 weeks treatment I feel wonderful, I can function more than I have been able for about 10 years. Yes I know I have wasted 15 whole years of my entire life, a whopping 29% of it. But now I have hope, recovery and and best of all some normal life.

The disturbing thing is that none of this improvement is down to our wonderful NHS. I found the cause myself (after I recognised a picture of the Lyme rash as one which I had had). I was advised by the Eurolyme website and I found a private doctor who had the training and the skill and most importantly the interest to want to treat me. In 15 years all the NHS wanted to do was either ignore me, send me to a psychiatrist or give me unproved, dangerous, half-baked quack remedies. No-one wanted to treat me as a whole person with one illness.

Even now I have a treatment I will have to pay for it myself shortly via private prescriptions. My GP practice said that they will no longer be able to provide prescriptions for such a 'controversial' treatment as it is 'off-guideline' and unproven. OK , so they would rather I stay ill then? Even though my private doctor is in full contact with my NHS ones the NHS ones choose to disregard his expertise and go their own way. Even my NHS arthritis consultant has written to my GP (after being informed, out of courtesy, that my medications had changed and that I had a new diagnosis) and stated that I should stop this new treatment immediately. Why? because I am getting better?

I am now in total dispair at the state of the NHS. It seems the powers that be would rather follow regulations than provide what actually works and they also seem to want to keep people sick for long periods rather than in the first instance test them for their condition and secondly treat them when they do get the results.

I find I am in increasing agreement with John Crippen, the NHS Blogdoctor. I was never politically minded as a youngster, I was always too busy on other things. This life of mine has taught me otherwise, after all, I have had 15 years to think about it.

The whole situation in this country with regards to ME and Lyme disease is a shambles. It appears that there are dark forces at work keeping patients with these illnesses in thrall to the pyschiatrists. Far be it from me to speculate further here, but a quick of review of some of my sidelinks will give you food for thought enough to keep you reading for a twelve-month.

Just ponder this, how much money would have been saved if I had not been on benefits for 15 years and instead had a full range of tests and consulations followed by a course of treatment for up to 2 years. Now of course my condition is chronic, harder to treat, has given me other associated disorders and I might not recover completely.

Now multiply that figure by the estimated 240,000 ME suffers in this country, let alone those with undisclosed Lyme. You can draw your own conclusions.