THE EDUCATED HEALTH CARE CONSUMER
So many times I have sat across from men and women who are lost and confused in their efforts to understand the medication they are taking and its multiple impacts on their mind, body and spirit. Our bodies and minds are so complex that only our own brilliant intuition can truly tell us what is right and not right for our particular needs at a particular time. The size of the pharmaceutical industry that is constantly producing new drugs is mind-boggling, and its economic prowess substantial and growing. As consumers in the health care industry, we need to be aware of the entire process that affects what our physician prescribes for us. Investors like the great returns they get on their investments in pharmaceuticals, and want them to continue. Executives in the industry then increase their sales force to apply more pressure on physicians to prescribe the latest drug, as reported on June 13, 2003 in a front-page story in The Wall Street Journal. Does your physician tell you about the side effects of the medication she is prescribing? Does he tell you that he was wined and dined on a free vacation by the sales team that gave him the free samples of the drug he is now offering you? Do your own research. Before putting powerful chemicals into the sacred temple of your body/mind organism, know what they are and how they are likely to affect you. And always, always tune into, listen to, and trust your inner physician that has been living inside you all of your life.
