Always get a second opinion!

[Andun]

A lesson to be learned from this article. Oddly enough my experience with doctors has been the opposite of this man. The NZ medical community screwed me over so bad I didn't go to doctors for years after coming to Japan. But when I finally did I found 9 out of 10 to be very good. OK, so there was one crank I had the misfortune of crossing, but I didn't stick with him for long.

New Zealander loses legal fight over crippling med addiction

Former Japan resident seeks to spread word about the dangers of benzodiazepines


By SIMON SCOTT
When Wayne Douglas arrived home in New Zealand from Japan in early 2001, his own mother didn't recognize him at the airport.
She said that I looked like a half-dead zombie," Douglas recalls. "My mother had to drive me to the doctors' rooms, which were only about 100 meters down the road, (because) I was unable to walk that far at the time."
Douglas' departure from Japan was a sudden and painful one, and was precipitated by a severe addiction to benzodiazepines, a type of tranquilizer he had been unwittingly prescribed by a Japanese doctor.

[Effected After]

ouglas' departure from Japan was a sudden and painful one, and was precipitated by a severe addiction to benzodiazepines, a type of tranquilizer he had been unwittingly prescribed by a Japanese doctor.

I've found the complete opposite in Japan. I had some serious pain issues after a minor surgery a few years back, and I could not get any kind of pain killer that did anything. I went to three different hospitals, a couple of them on more than one occasion, and when all was said and done, they only gave me a stronger dose of the crappy painkillers they had already given me.

[Andun]

I've found the complete opposite in Japan. I had some serious pain issues after a minor surgery a few years back, and I could not get any kind of pain killer that did anything. I went to three different hospitals, a couple of them on more than one occasion, and when all was said and done, they only gave me a stronger dose of the crappy painkillers they had already given me.

Japanese medicine tends to be weaker than in the West. However I tend to be very sensitive to meds and need even smaller doses than what is usual here. A lot of factors are involved I guess.

[Deathblob]

Oh, poor guy, his doctor wrote him a prescription for bennies. What I wouldn't give for that! Or some morphine.

[Hijinx]

Of course, the article doesn't mention the name of the doctor who should be avoided.

[BackDoor_Man]

Hoy I knew that Wayne Douglas dude and he was into all kinds of druggie shite, he was just using that as an excuse to try to get over!

[Andun]

Hoy I knew that Wayne Douglas dude and he was into all kinds of druggie shite, he was just using that as an excuse to try to get over!

Really? Careful with the lies. You could be made liable.

[BackDoor_Man]

Really? Careful with the lies. You could be made liable.

No lie and I have pictures of him doing some shite to prove it!

[Hijinx]

he was just using that as an excuse to try to get over!

Huh? I don't understand.

[TJrandom]

I wanted to direct people to the section that deals with the basis of the court’s decision – which was not on misdiagnosis (which obviously occurred) and prescription of medication inappropriate to the misdiagnosis – but was rather narrowly limited to whether or not a person could become addicted to the drugs prescribed. This limitation seems suspiciously like the court twisted itself in knots to find a way to dismiss the claim – and is typical of court cases where an individual is facing off against large interests. The court simply rubber stamps the practices of industry at the expense of individual people.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl2...A+All+Stories)

In court, the issue of diagnosis was not central to the case. Instead, the basis for Douglas' claim for damages was that he had become addicted to benzodiazepines because he was prescribed them repeatedly over a long period of time, without informed consent, and that the doctor neglected to properly monitor his condition while on the medication.

The doctor's defense argued that Douglas was never addicted to benzodiazepines in the first place. If there was no addiction, the argument ran, the doctor could not have failed to "properly monitor" his patient's reaction to the drugs, because the drugs were not causing the adverse symptoms.

[TJrandom]

Further – I want to suggest that everyone do their own research into the effects of drugs that are prescribed here in Japan.

I am taking medication from which I suspected certain symptoms, and asked my doctor about them when I was back in for a follow-up visit and refill for the prescription. He denied that my symptoms could be related to the medication.

With the refill subscription in hand – I enquired at the pharmacy, and the pharmacist pulled out the literature they had received from the supplier – and looked through the information on side effects – and told me the same thing – that no, those symptoms could not be related to the medication.

But back at my office – a few minutes on the Internet took me to http://www.virtualmedicalcentre.com/ (and other sites) – which listed my symptoms as being side effects of the prescribed medication.

So I fault the drug company – for not including the side effect information in their write-up for doctors and pharmacists. But the main point – is that you need to do the research yourself.

[NorthByNorthwest]

Further – I want to suggest that everyone do their own research into the effects of drugs that are prescribed here in Japan.

I am taking medication from which I suspected certain symptoms, and asked my doctor about them when I was back in for a follow-up visit and refill for the prescription. He denied that my symptoms could be related to the medication.

With the refill subscription in hand – I enquired at the pharmacy, and the pharmacist pulled out the literature they had received from the supplier – and looked through the information on side effects – and told me the same thing – that no, those symptoms could not be related to the medication.

But back at my office – a few minutes on the Internet took me to www.virtualmedicalcenter.com (and other sites) – which listed my symptoms as being side effects of the prescribed medication.

So I fault the drug company – for not including the side effect information in their write-up for doctors and pharmacists. But the main point – is that you need to do the research yourself.

I think you meant this URL in your example: http://www.virtualmedicalcentre.com/

[TJrandom]

I think you meant this URL in your example: http://www.virtualmedicalcentre.com/

right you are....... my bad.