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1. Embed this notice
   clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Tuesday, 07-Jan-2025 00:43:47 JST clacke

   US people and Swedish people have very different relations to medication.

   Swedes generally undermedicate. I have made a vow to compensate for it and take an aspirin when there's a rational reason to do so. And to keep aspirin and ibuprofen around to enable that. I know the names of paracetamol and ibuprofen because of a catchy song in a popular ad in the 90s.

   When I watch some US shows, medical brands are part of the vocabulary and I have to stop and look them up to follow the dialog. The intended audience is so fluent in dozens of brands for various states of mind or body, that a character can go "ugh, I need my $BRAND" and you're supposed to know "oh, he's sad", or "oh, she's jittery for the presentation tomorrow", and I'm probably missing the more subtle "oh, that person is probably taking too much of their $OTHERBRAND".

   I think that is the opioid crisis. Not some shady guy in a garage and/or another country responding to the demand.

   I think the right balance is probably somewhere in between.

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   • Embed this notice
     Fish of Rage (sun@shitposter.world)'s status on Tuesday, 07-Jan-2025 00:43:46 JST Fish of Rage

     in reply to
     @clacke We're victims of a predatory pharma system. If you meet a lot of Americans many are hesitant about taking drugs as well. I personally don't like taking things unnecessarily but my health has required a change in that attitude.
     clacke likes this.
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     Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} (lnxw37j1@gnusocial.jp)'s status on Tuesday, 07-Jan-2025 01:45:13 JST Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864}

     in reply to

     • Fish of Rage
     @clacke @sun Here in the US, there's a vast difference between "over the counter" and prescription medications. OTC meds are sold at regular stores, generally at prices that normal people can pay (assuming they don't abuse them). Prescription meds generally cost a whole lot, and with our current healthcare & pharmaceuticals system, depend heavily on a person (a) having insurance and (b) that insurance deciding to cover the medication.
     
     So there are people who don't use medications because they cannot afford it, and there are people who don't use medications because they're opposed to medications except for when they're the difference between life and death.
     
     (I did know someone whose doctor got free samples from a pharma company and gave them out to his patients. That particular person's stash helped me and other friends who lacked insurance to self-treat things that we couldn't otherwise treat.)
     
     I partly blame my old best friend's death decades ago on a medical insurer deciding not to cover things his doctor recommended.
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   • Embed this notice
     hypolite (hypolite@friendica.mrpetovan.com)'s status on Tuesday, 07-Jan-2025 18:47:26 JST hypolite

     in reply to

     • TinCoyote
     @gedvondur @clacke These American prescription medication TV ads with more time spent listing all the side-effects than the actual effect while random people are happy in slow motion in the background are jarring for anyone who didn’t grow up with them.
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   • Embed this notice
     TinCoyote (gedvondur@hulvr.com)'s status on Tuesday, 07-Jan-2025 18:47:27 JST TinCoyote

     in reply to

     @clacke I think that prescription medications should not be allowed to advertise broadly in the U.S. Just like cigarettes and hard liquor.

     Some spend more on advertising and exec salaries than R&D.

     https://www.citizen.org/article/profits-over-patients/

     Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Tuesday, 07-Jan-2025 18:52:36 JST clacke

     in reply to

     • Fish of Rage
     @sun Is it that people who work in the entertainment industry work under crazy pressure and always keep their purse stocked with stimulant, anti-anxiety, cool-the-stomach-after-all-the stimulant-and-anti-anxiety, and so characters in TV shows do that even if Joe Shmoe doesn't?
   • Embed this notice
     Mans R (mansr@society.oftrolls.com)'s status on Tuesday, 07-Jan-2025 18:52:46 JST Mans R

     in reply to

     @clacke Another thing I've noticed is Americans casually talking about "where they get their meds" or similar. If you're not taking at least two or three prescription drugs, you're not seen as normal.

     clacke likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Tuesday, 07-Jan-2025 19:04:39 JST clacke

     in reply to

     • Mans R
     @mansr Also "talk to your doctor". I've never had a "my doctor". Nor a "my lawyer".
   • Embed this notice
     Mans R (mansr@society.oftrolls.com)'s status on Wednesday, 08-Jan-2025 01:08:07 JST Mans R

     in reply to

     • Fish of Rage

     @clacke @sun I've also wondered if American drugs really come in orange plastic bottles rather than blister packs like everywhere else.

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   • Embed this notice
     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Wednesday, 08-Jan-2025 01:19:04 JST clacke

     in reply to

     • Mans R
     @mansr I sincerely literally move homes more often than I go to the doctor. Registering sounds like yet another hassle when you move. 😅
   • Embed this notice
     Mans R (mansr@society.oftrolls.com)'s status on Wednesday, 08-Jan-2025 01:19:05 JST Mans R

     in reply to

     @clacke I have "my doctor" in the sense that I'm registered with a practice. I've never so much as spoken with them, though.

   • Embed this notice
     Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} (lnxw37j1@gnusocial.jp)'s status on Wednesday, 08-Jan-2025 05:55:28 JST Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864}

     in reply to

     • Fish of Rage
     @clacke The "talk to your doctor" thing is simple: If you have medical insurance, there is usually one medical practice that is selected to be your first step in seeking treatment. Part of their purpose is to prevent you from obtaining more expensive specialist care without approval. @sun can likely verify, since he likely has a doctor.
     
     I don't have one, since I'm not currently covered by medical insurance.
   • Embed this notice
     Fish of Rage (sun@shitposter.world)'s status on Wednesday, 08-Jan-2025 06:10:46 JST Fish of Rage

     in reply to
     @clacke you do meet a lot of regular people that take a lot of drugs but, you also meet a lot that don't.
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   • Embed this notice
     Nudhul (nudhul@shitposter.world)'s status on Wednesday, 08-Jan-2025 06:12:31 JST Nudhul

     in reply to

     • Mans R
     • Fish of Rage
     @mansr @clacke @sun prescription drugs do
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   • Embed this notice
     Fish of Rage (sun@shitposter.world)'s status on Wednesday, 08-Jan-2025 06:43:29 JST Fish of Rage

     in reply to

     • Mans R
     • Nudhul
     @mansr @Nudhul @clacke easy to see it's a prescription.
     
     some prescriptions do have blister packs but they are still contained in a plastic thingy, like a blue sleeve. I can't find a picture of one.
   • Embed this notice
     Mans R (mansr@society.oftrolls.com)'s status on Wednesday, 08-Jan-2025 06:43:33 JST Mans R

     in reply to

     • Fish of Rage
     • Nudhul

     @Nudhul @clacke @sun Any idea why? Blister packs seem much safer to me.

     clacke likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     Fish of Rage (sun@shitposter.world)'s status on Wednesday, 08-Jan-2025 06:43:42 JST Fish of Rage

     in reply to

     • Mans R
     • Fish of Rage
     • Nudhul
     @mansr @Nudhul @clacke also the bottles have child-safety lids
   • Embed this notice
     Fish of Rage (sun@shitposter.world)'s status on Wednesday, 08-Jan-2025 07:00:59 JST Fish of Rage

     in reply to

     • Mans R
     • Nudhul
     @mansr @clacke @Nudhul I think over here it's just a law to do it that way and the law hasn't probably kept up with what's best.
     clacke likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     Mans R (mansr@society.oftrolls.com)'s status on Wednesday, 08-Jan-2025 07:01:03 JST Mans R

     in reply to

     • Fish of Rage
     • Nudhul

     @sun @clacke @Nudhul Over here they put a sticker on the box.

     Blister packs are nice because it's easy to count how many have been taken, and they are tamper-proof.

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   • Embed this notice
     Fish of Rage (sun@shitposter.world)'s status on Wednesday, 08-Jan-2025 07:04:30 JST Fish of Rage

     in reply to

     • Mans R
     • Nudhul
     @mansr @clacke @Nudhul we also have awful inertia on improving things even without laws.
     clacke likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     Mans R (mansr@society.oftrolls.com)'s status on Wednesday, 08-Jan-2025 07:04:34 JST Mans R

     in reply to

     • Fish of Rage
     • Nudhul

     @sun @clacke @Nudhul America has a lot of that.

     clacke and Fish of Rage like this.
   • Embed this notice
     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Wednesday, 08-Jan-2025 19:25:57 JST clacke

     in reply to

     • Mans R
     • Fish of Rage
     • Nudhul
     @Nudhul @mansr @sun Just out of instinct, or is there a specific story behind this?
   • Embed this notice
     Nudhul (nudhul@shitposter.world)'s status on Wednesday, 08-Jan-2025 19:25:58 JST Nudhul

     in reply to

     • Mans R
     • Fish of Rage
     @sun @mansr @clacke i blame the unions for why we still use shitty 3 prong sockets
   • Embed this notice
     Mans R (mansr@society.oftrolls.com)'s status on Sunday, 12-Jan-2025 10:41:02 JST Mans R

     in reply to

     @clacke The story is that that account should be ignored and possibly blocked.

     Another Linux Walt Alt likes this.