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Drugs in the United States are classified as "prescription only" or "over the counter." Proposed is a third category.
Health officials worry that the release of antibiotics would lead to pandemics of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to realize that not every case of the
sniffles warrants a mouthful of pills. I do find it annoying that I have to work around a dentist's schedule to get more-or-less emergency dental care just to be prescribed antibiotics for a tooth abscess while planning or awaiting a more complete solution to the problem.
I had to get licensed to drive and to fish. My original profession of mechanical engineering was regulated under licensing rules, and I understand the problem of public safety when bridges fall, cars crash, and planes fall out of the sky. Licensing outside of medicine, however, acknowledges various levels of licensure, differentiating amateurs from professionals. My Florida Class E Driver License forbids me from driving a fuel tanker. My recreational fishing license isn't enough for me to show up at the dock with a boat full of fish for sale. I believe the field of medicine should have a semi-professional, semi-amateur license for the equivalent of a private school clinic lady, a girl scout volunteer, etc.
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I find that the problem isn't that medicine is all that
difficult to understand, but people begin to act under
their own authority fuelled by the esteem of others and
become grand poobahs. |
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Isn't this the profession of 'pharmacist'? In the UK, there are medical products you can buy from a supermarket, medical products you have to get a doctor' prescription for, and then there are medical products you can buy from a pharmacy at the discretion of the pharmacist and only after the pharamcist has explained the use of the product. |
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No, only a doctor can prescribe a med that is not
over the counter in the US, hippo. So I understand
the nerds complaint and wish there was a third
option. But as long as the drug companies own us,
that will never happen. |
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However, apparently some states at least have a rather loose definition of 'doctor'. |
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Yes, a PA, and some nurses with very advanced
degrees can prescribe, but only under a doctors eye. |
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I was thinking of an article I read about California's "pot docs", with the same prescription for all ailments.
Presumably they do have appropriate accreditation, but from the description in the article... Well, charitably one might claim that the interaction described was just a suitable "bedside manner" affected for their patients. |
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Oh, I forgot about them. Your'e right. There are some
other kinds of doctors. In that state at least. |
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Because they go through medical school just like all
doctors do, and then end up specializing in their
chosen field. They all go through the same stuff.
Dermatologist, etc. Medical school is medical school. |
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Ethics and/or fear of litigation and/or professional regulation and/or lack of opportunity and/or lack of market for dental heart surgery. Plus, in my jurisdiction at least, dentists are not medically qualified. Aside from the foregoing though, there's nothing stopping them. |
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//If that's the case, what's to stop a dentist from
performing open-heart surgery?// |
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Is a dentist an MD? No? You answered your own question.
They cannot perform surgery or give medical advice,
because they're not doctors. As for podiatrists, they're a
weird case, because they /are/ considered doctors, but
receive different training and degrees from other
specialties, and are only licensed to practice podiatric
medicine. The same thing with veterinarians, for example
—they are trained and licensed as doctors, but are only
allowed to treat animals. |
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On the other hand, physicians—this means doctors with an
MD or a DO—can practice any sort of medicine they choose.
Yes, this means that a cardiologist can legally perform
brain surgery, or a pediatrician can legally perform an
appendectomy. In practice, this isn't a huge problem,
because you'd have to be crazy to do something way out of
your field, and malpractice insurance pretty much governs
what you can and can't do. |
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As for psychiatrists making statements about parts of the
body other than the brain, I don't really see the problem.
Psychiatrists go through the same medical training and
residency requirements as any other doctor, and in fact
need to know quite a bit about parts of he body besides
just the brain in order to do their jobs properly. The brain
governs the whole body after all, and many psychiatric
disorders (and drugs) have systemic effects. I would expect
that any competent psychiatrist would be at least aware of
the potential dangers of uncontrolled pica. |
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// I always thought it was illegal for medical practitioners
to give medical advice on a subject that is outside their
field of expertise. Am I wrong in thinking that?// |
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//No, only a doctor can prescribe a med that is not over
the counter in the US// |
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Strictly speaking, there are a few drugs that are in a grey
area: they are considered over-the-counter, but can only
be purchased from a pharmacist, who can refuse to sell
them under certain circumstances. Pseudoephedrine is one
(this is mainly to combat meth production, though);
emergency contraception (i.e., the “morning after pill”) is
another. But this is a very limited class of drugs, and
generally does not include the sort of drugs like antibiotics
and such that this idea is suggesting. I think it has less to
do with pharmaceutical companies and more to do with
this country's puritanical fear of “drug abuse”, though. |
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Not that it stops some of them. |
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// The same thing with veterinarians, for example —
they are trained and licensed as doctors, but are only
allowed to treat animals.
// |
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That is correct. Physicians are allowed to treat humans--
but ONLY humans. Veterinarians are not allowed to treat
humans, but instead must be familiar with the physiology
of a panopoly of various species, many of which are more
complicated than humans in some ways (dogs, for
instance, have over two dozen blood types). Almost all
physicians specialize in either medicine or surgery, whereas
the majority of veterinarians must be well-versed in both.
My mother, an MD, has frequently pointed out that in many
ways DVMs have a much harder job. |
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To be clear, I was not attempting to denigrate or belittle
veterinarians in any way—I agree with you completely that
in many ways it is a more difficult profession than
practicing human medicine. I was only pointing out a type
of practitioner that is limited by law to a narrow and
specific type of medicine, as opposed to a physician who is
trained for and may practice in any field he or she so
desires (as long as it's on humans, anyway.) |
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I know that, I just like to bang my gong sometimes. Or in
this case that of my family. I should have made it more
clear that I took no offense. |
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//I know that, I just like to bang my gong sometimes. Or in
this case that of my family.// |
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Whoa, is that legal in Maine now? |
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"legal schmeegal". I rest my case Your Honour. |
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You might be surprised at what is legal in Maine. |
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