Disagreeing With Thais About Taking Medicines

[keestha]

Both with my present Thai wife and with the previous one, I have had differences of opinion regarding taking medicines. Being a European aged over 50, my whole life I have only taken medicines if it was strictly necessary, prefering to let the body fight off the problem the natural way.

But Thais want you to run to the doctor when you have a simple cold, and come back with at least three different types of pills.

Probably if a doctor from the west would work here as a general practitioner, he would have to order placebos by the truckload in order to keep his Thai clients satisfied.

People seem to have an unshakeable belief in the magical power of medicines, thinking they can make any problem disappear instantly.

Doctors also have a different intake. Once I got a headwound trying to walk without bending through a 1,8 meter doorpost though I am 1,95. The doctor stitched the wound, and gave me antibiotics which of course I didn't take.

Must admit the Thai way probably influenced me a bit though. Sure, if you have a cold or a hangover, taking a pill which contains besides paracetamol something else which you might not get over the counter in the west (pseudoephedrine?) gives you kind of a lift.

Your thoughts on this?

[Travel2003]

Both with my present Thai wife and with the previous one, I have had differences of opinion regarding taking medicines. Being a European aged over 50, my whole life I have only taken medicines if it was strictly necessary, prefering to let the body fight off the problem the natural way.

But Thais want you to run to the doctor when you have a simple cold, and come back with at least three different types of pills.

Probably if a doctor from the west would work here as a general practitioner, he would have to order placebos by the truckload in order to keep his Thai clients satisfied.

People seem to have an unshakeable belief in the magical power of medicines, thinking they can make any problem disappear instantly.

Doctors also have a different intake. Once I got a headwound trying to walk without bending through a 1,8 meter doorpost though I am 1,95. The doctor stitched the wound, and gave me antibiotics which of course I didn't take.

Must admit the Thai way probably influenced me a bit though. Sure, if you have a cold or a hangover, taking a pill which contains besides paracetamol something else which you might not get over the counter in the west (pseudoephedrine?) gives you kind of a lift.

Your thoughts on this?

I have more or less the same observation.

Both my wife, and my x-gf here believe very strongly in this.

Many of my friends here as well.

They keep running to the Emergency rooms (hospitals) for nothing.

In the end of the day many of them owe money to a lot of people as they never have the cash there and then.

But I have also observed that this is something that many of my friends in the neighbour countries do as well.

Especially in the Philippines. They are even worse. Just take a cold and off they go to the Hospital for 2-3 days.

[fiddlehead]

I agree and blame it on Television. It's easy to see that Thai's are easily brainwashed.

I remember seeing my sister in law buying that whitening cream with her small salary. I told her i didn't think that stuff worked and she should put some on only one arm to test it. She replied by saying: "What do you know, you don't even watch TV"

They think i know nothing and you are correct, they love to take medicine and i've seen the hospitals admit people for 4 days with a common cold. (western hospitals here in Phuket)

I will say that Sa-Ra medicine works for some things and is reasonably priced.

[loong]

When the littl'un had a bad cold, off the missus went to the doctor, came back with about 5 different bottles, seems totally ridiculous to me.

Next day, littl'un not better and she wants to take her to a clinic! I tell her that she has to give the medicine time to work. But no, she had to go. It was a holiday so no clinic open, so she took her to the main hospital in Khon Kaen. I at least managed to persuade her to take the medicines to show the doctor what had been prescribed.

The doctor told her that she had to give the medicine time to work.

[mattias33]

It might have a little to do with the soc.security system aswell. In my own country, if i get a cold, i call in sick and can be home for 5 days with 80% of my salary and wait the thing out. In Thailand, being home for a few days is something many Thais can´t afford for one thing, and they stand the chans of loosing their job. Threfore they want to get back to work as soon as possible so they eat alot of medicine......

From what i´ve seen in hospitals, thai doctors seem to think of antibiotic as somekind of candy that is good to take always, needed or not. Paracetamols are something that all thais seem to think of as a dayly candypill.

[samuibeachcomber]

thais are encouraged to do this by the hospitals in particular,its just money making on their part,have n't you noticed they'll do the same for farang if we let them.50 years ago in the west a patient would never dare question a doctors advice/opinion,its different now and western doctors have had to accept we are not doh doh's.in time i guess this might happen in thailand too,but for know ,yes,they love those pills,infact the pills the doctor gives them,the more the merrier.

[G54]

All the Thai people I have known are the same. One sniffle and they have a concoction of pills to take. Yet when the ex had a chest infection and was coughing up plenty of green gunge she got nothing for it. I eventually went and got her some antibiotics for the problem and her chest infection was gone in 10 days or so.

Another point to consider here is the amount of coughs and colds that seem to go around. Very few Thai's can take time off work when they are sick so they spread the colds and flu etc around and around, especially at this time of year.

I tried to get the ex's to take extra vitamins in the form of fruit, but many derided that idea and were happy with their little bags of pills.

[Fore Man]

I concur with foregoing posters who criticize Thai practices of seeking professional help when it is often not required. But I also denigrate to a greater extent the almost total lack of concern among Thai medical professionals (those I have been treated by anyway over a 13-year period in three localities) for their head-in-the-sand mentality of treating the symptom and not the cause. How many Thais have succumbed to diseases that were 'treated' at an incipient stage, but no regard was made to the underlying cause and no guidance was given on how to prevent the escalation of the symptoms?

The Thai medical system is based on triage and treatment of symptoms...and almost no concern is expressed for prevention of disease and how other factors, such as lifestyle changes, could ameliorate a particular condition or reverse its course.

My own latest experience: I underwent my annual physical examination at a popular, Western-style hospital in Chiang Mai last week. My family care physician on the staff at that hospital, well familiar with my past four years of annual physical exam results, totally ignored a worsening creatinine level that has been rising steadily over that 4-year period. The lastest test is at the high end of the normal range, and his immediate remark when I brought this to his attention (instead of vice-versa) was "what are you worried about? It's still normal". Yes, the upper end of the normal range but next year I will probably be above normal and displaying symptoms of renal insufficiency. Their attitude is to take of problems after they happen...not to investigate them and try to impede their progress today. With no advice given by this doctor, I am seeking ways on my own to stay healthy through simple lifestyle changes that I can and certainly am adopting. In my case, I have been taking a drug that has been blamed in causing kidney problems over time, and nobody in the past 4-years took the time to explain this to me. Nobody correlated the results of my annual blood tests and realized a problem was developing. This never would have happened back in the West.

Last week, we mourned the loss of an elderly Thai man who died of throat cancer...he had experienced many years of difficulty in swallowing, severe heartburn and GERD symptoms. Without adequate imagery of his esophagus at early stages, it appears that he became afflicted with Barrett's Esophagus, a condition that it almost always a precursor of esophageal cancer. And sure enough, this suffering gentleman died a miserable and painful death from cancer when it could have been headed off long before it became acute. Whenever he visited the hospital, I was told that he was treated with acid reflux medications but little else by way of diagnostic tests were completed. Ergo, the pills helped him to alleviate the symptoms but the disease process continued unchecked until it was too late to save him. This was no poor rural chap--he was a high wage earner and a professional who went to the best hospitals available to him...all for naught.

I believe that Thai doctors have a long, long way to go in adopting and applying preventive medicine procedures for their patients. There seems to be an acceptance among the Thai people--medical professionals and lay people alike--that premature loss of life due to disease is both predictable and unpreventable. What a terrible shame.

I apologize to those Thai physicians and caregivers who do their best to prevent disease among their patients, counseling them on lifestyle changes and other means to stop the onslaught of medical problems, but would like them to understand that this is my own personal opinion based on years of observation and experience.

Edited February 28, 2009 by Fore Man

[mojaco]

Being old and retired from the USA I was raised the "old way" . . . mom would keep a watch on my temperature and if is was less than 103 I stayed home, breathing Vicks vapor rub in a boiling pan of water with a sheet over my head. Call the doctor and the advice was "Take an aspirin, drink lots of fluids, and rest until it goes away." So my parents by self study about diseases and discussions with others became good at deciding when we needed to actually see a doctor (swollen gland needing penicillin, tonsilectomy, smashed fingers, broken bones was about it. Or if diarrhea became so severe and long lasting that there was danger of dehydration.)

But in my 15 years in Thailand I have never seen a thermometer in any person's home, and virtually all people I know that are educated or not don't have instruction or experience in making simple medical decisions for themselves. And seem to know very little about how diseases spread. For instance, I saw a person once who was tasting the food she was making for us all by sipping on a spoonful and then putting it back in the food being prepared, doing this several times. I commented that that would put germs from her into the food and that person (a graduate from the best Thai university in Bangkok) responded that as long as she didn't blow on the food in the spoon it would be OK.

Anyway, my own observations is that the school system fails to help Thai people be able to understand and assess simple medical needs for themselves, so they have no choice but run to the doctor whenever there is the slightest symptom. It is an education failure in my opinion. But another problem is that many Thai people only have a Grade 6 or lower education, and one probably cannot get or understand these medical concepts until Grade 8 or 9?

[Travel2003]

I concur with foregoing posters who criticize Thai practices of seeking professional help when it is often not required. But I also denigrate to a greater extent the almost total lack of concern among Thai medical professionals (those I have been treated by anyway over a 13-year period in three localities) for their head-in-the-sand mentality of treating the symptom and not the cause. How many Thais have succumbed to diseases that were 'treated' at an incipient stage, but no regard was made to the underlying cause and no guidance was given on how to prevent the escalation of the symptoms?

Correct.

My father in law died of TB last year.

Turned out when I took him to a decent hospital and not the local doctor's office that he had been going with it for a few years.

The local doctors had been feeding him with all kinds of medicines.

It took just an x-ray to determine that the damage was so big, (is the word consumption?) and he died just a few days later.

Imagine, die of TB in the year of 2008!

It should not have happened.

[noahvail]

I concur with foregoing posters who criticize Thai practices of seeking professional help when it is often not required. But I also denigrate to a greater extent the almost total lack of concern among Thai medical professionals (those I have been treated by anyway over a 13-year period in three localities) for their head-in-the-sand mentality of treating the symptom and not the cause. How many Thais have succumbed to diseases that were 'treated' at an incipient stage, but no regard was made to the underlying cause and no guidance was given on how to prevent the escalation of the symptoms?

Correct.

My father in law died of TB last year.

Turned out when I took him to a decent hospital and not the local doctor's office that he had been going with it for a few years.

The local doctors had been feeding him with all kinds of medicines.

It took just an x-ray to determine that the damage was so big, (is the word consumption?) and he died just a few days later.

Imagine, die of TB in the year of 2008!

It should not have happened.

Sad to hear this report about your father-in-law; but not surprized. Seems to me that Thai doctors don't discuss the problems with the patients or their families - a cultural thing. My neighbour's father has just had an amputation of the foot and femur, just below the knee. I asked what the cause was, was it diabetes? He said he didn't know. I asked what the doctor had said to the family, and he replied that the doctor said his father would have 5 years to live without the operation, 10 years to live with the operation. But no, not why he had to have it. Doctor knows best, why should I worry?

I learned early on to question the docs. My BP was a little high, and the local GP gave me propanolol. I asked about contraindications with my other meds, and she said, no, no problems. Yeah, ok... and less than a week later I was in a specialist's office; as I was his first farange patient, he didn't know how to deal with me. So I told him I used to work with MDs and Psychiatrists all the time back in the US, so you can tell me everything - in fact, you *must* tell me everything. So he did. Turns out propanolol *is* contraindicated with the other meds I'm taking. I know, I should have checked with Rx.com, but I've found it lacking in Thai names of drugs.

Moral of the story? Demand explanations from your doc, not just ask...

[thaihome]

So the outcome of this enlightening thread is that there are cultural differences in regards to the treatment of sickness, disease, and injuries between the west and Thailand.

God, I would have never thought…

TH

[wasabi]

I dare say that the Thai educational system with it's rote learning coupled with the Thai cultural bias towards not questioning what has been established is to blame and therefore Thai people are not well suited towards the study of medicine, which is not merely a textbook science but a practice. Doctor's must use science and even artistry to string together causes of problems and find the solutions. It's not as simple as 1+1= 2 every time.

I agree with the general theme of criticism about an utmost faith in doctors and a belief they need to be consulted for even the most minor of ailments in Thailand. I have stopped telling my girlfriend I have a headache because she will say, Bpai Ha Maw or gin yaa mai? Go to the doctor or eat medicine. She means well but she doesn't understand sometimes medicine and medical care can make the problem worse. I took her to a skin doctor a few months ago for a birthmark she has. The doctor who is at one of the premiere BKK hospitals prescribed her a bag full of medicine amongst which were Zyrtec an Antihistamine? If she had a rash I might have been able to understand that but not a birth mark? I told her she didn't need to take the Zyrtec but she was very adamant about following the doctors instructions to the letter so she diligently popped one every night and subsequently slept like a log!

Thai's tend to believe doctors can fix most of what ails us and if someone happens to die in the hospital from a papercut than it was simply beyond the reach of medical care. I guess there's not many malpractices cases in Thailand so why not just prescribe Amoxicillin and collect the check? My experience of living in Thailand has convinced me if I ever do retire here I better have enough money to go to Singapore or back home if I ever get a serious ailment.

[PeaceBlondie]

Lots of similar things in my experiences here (but not in Latin America or the USA). Laymen here do not seem to know the difference between a virus and a bacteria. I just came back from a Harvard Medical school-trained Thai dermatologist, who instantly recognized that I had a fungal infection on my foot. Both Thai pharmacists in the last six weeks failed to diagnose it. My Thai partner did not know the word 'fungus' but when I explained it was like mold on the wall, he said the Thai word was 'raa' or something.

180 baht total office fee to see a Harvard-trained Thai professor of dermatology...not bad at all. Let's see if he is any better than the Mexican dermatologist.

But all the pills, sure. Dr. Sidney T. Lewis, who was once the guinea pig and hero whose overweight frame tested the limits for lap belts, told me in 1963: "if you have a common cold, we can treat it with medicine in a week, and we can cure it without medicine in seven days."

I am deathly allergic to penicillin, and I find that nurses and doctors here almost always ask, even on my initial sign-in.

Laymen here are afraid to ask the doctor questions, or to tell jokes. I joked with my orthopedic surgeon who had worked in Michigan, but my partner said it was disrespectful. The doctor enjoyed it.

The ignorant GP in Hua Hin at least knew he was ignorant. He concluded, "I have no idea what is wrong with you, but I have to tell you I do not know." The specialists at Samitivej were just as ignorant, but not as modest.

But I have to add: bacteria are almost impossible to identify sometimes, here and in the West. And if you ask a question that exceeds some super-specialty, even the best expert does not know.

[Sabum]

It's not just Thai unless my girlfriend (Japanese) has simply taken to Thai customs, she insists on running to the doctor to get a boatload of expensive pills for every sniffle and ache... even sore muscles from working out! BAH ASIANS!

[Maigo6]

For instance, I saw a person once who was tasting the food she was making for us all by sipping on a spoonful and then putting it back in the food being prepared, doing this several times. I commented that that would put germs from her into the food and that person (a graduate from the best Thai university in Bangkok) responded that as long as she didn't blow on the food in the spoon it would be OK.

I saw that once too, in fact it even made it onto a TV show, it was one of the worlds top chefs actually, and guess what, he wasn't Thai.

I really think that too many people here are very afraid, very paranoid, and very unhappy, you seem to think 'The Thais are all out to get you ", what a load of rubbish, wanna see what happens in a Kitchen in a busy restaurant in the fabulous west.....Oh I can't be bothered, look it up on google.

Any little thing happens in Thailand there are 100 posts from Farangs patting themselves on the back cos they know better, they could run things better, they can drive better, they can do everything better than the Thais, yet so many of you marry a Thai and live in Thailand, it's very odd to me.

I saw on the internet about a woman in America who swapped 2 children for a Cockatoo, do all Americans do this ?

Of course they don't, but if it had happened in Thailand we would have had 300 posts in 2 hours slamming all Thai people as being like this...

I'm sure you guys have had very little experience in other developing countries, you go to developing countries and expect to find what ?

Loads of 20 year old rich girls that fancy old fat Farangs ?

You expect everything to be just like it is in the very best of the west with the added bonus of plenty of poor women to choose from ?

Jeeez, get real. there was even a post here about what side of the pavement Thai people walk on and even that produced the usual slurs on Thai people, pathetic really, and you lot wonder why you think Thai people don't like you, it's the bad vibes you give off, I've seen it a thousand times, and I know you lot think I am a Thai apologist, that's cos I don't moan and slag off everything Thai like so many of you happy souls do.

And so many here wonder why Thai women have a Thai boyfriend on the side, lol, can you blame them, you lot are so miserable they must live bad lives and could do with something positive !!

Put yourself in their place, think about it, would you like to live with you ?

Carry on the good work chaps......

[mahtin]

Western medicine is driven by Big Pharma, whose optic is treat the symptom with unnatural money-making drugs, and if there is a more natural treatment available ban it or ridicule it.

Linus Pauling, two time Nobel prizewinner, is still derided by cardiologists for his orthomolecular protocol, whilst they continue to dispense drugs that kill and ruin quality of life.

It is sad that the Thais have been similarly brainwashed.

[Maigo6]

Western medicine is driven by Big Pharma, whose optic is treat the symptom with unnatural money-making drugs, and if there is a more natural treatment available ban it or ridicule it.

Linus Pauling, two time Nobel prizewinner, is still derided by cardiologists for his orthomolecular protocol, whilst they continue to dispense drugs that kill and ruin quality of life.

It is sad that the Thais have been similarly brainwashed.

Good points, with Millions of people in western countries addicted to prescription drugs, maybe westerners need to alter their ways, and the western doctors who are given nice little gifts to dispense these drugs like sweets to all and sundry.

Not forgetting the huge companies that contribute to political parties to smooth the way for yet more addictive drugs coming onto the market.

Edited February 28, 2009 by Maigo6

[Brigante7]

Forget all your pills, according to my wife Tiger-Balm cures all either in liquid form or ointment, any medical complaints, tiger-balm will cure it. I got badly bitten in Thailand 3 years ago and was in bed with bad hallucinations, sweating buckets, shi_tting everywhere and my left ankle where I was bitten was all swolen and black and the solution? Smother it in tiger-balm, did fuc_k all I might add, had to call a doctopr for antibiotics.

[robblok]

Maigo,

You don't seem to get that Thais are usually less educated then the average farang. It's a truth of course there are exceptions but its crazy for any foreigner to expect things to be as in his home country else he should stay home.

I don't see a problem in commenting on errors in Thailand, i comment on an other board on error's in Holland. Who says you have to accept and be happy with everything ? I am happy here but there are always things that i think can improve. But i was the same in Holland, commented in Holland about problems too why would i now not comment on things i see as in need of improvement ?

This doesn't mean i want the Thais to change too much because then its just a copy of the country that i left. I do like that this is a developing country else a lot of things weren't the way i like it now.

A lot of people here are crazy slandering Thai's all the time but your just the opposite.. i wonder if there is a middle ground.

[teletiger]

PB cracks me up. 2 Thai pharmacists failed to diagnose her festering foot.

I'm going back to the U.K. tomorrow, will stick my moldy toes on a Boots counter and demand a diagnosis.

Amputation from the neck down would be the expected response.

I agreed with a few other points from the janitors post though.

Regards

[PeaceBlondie]

I learned in Nicaragua, Guatemala, and the most remote parts of Mexico that pharmacists and mere pharmacy clerks can often diagnose a skin problem accurately. Comitan, Chiapas. A town in Guatemala so small it barely has a drug store, and another one at the beach in Mexico. The GP at the massacre site in most remote Chiapas and her counterpart dermatologist in San Cristobal got my facial infection half right, anyway. And the free govt. doctor at the very unguarded Guat-Mex border treated me fine, for free. And the doctors in Tapachula, and the eye surgeon in Masaya, Nicaragua. So puh-leez, folks, do not mistake me for an idiot who has never left his village in Texas.

Maigo, you make a half-believable apologist for all things Thai and all things anti-farang. But hundreds of us have lived in other developing countries where the lay people understood basic medical truths more consistently. However, I added to my earlier post to compliment the fine Thai doctors who gave me the right diagnosis or admitted their ignorance. But I was upset in Hua Hin, that both a pediatrician and a dermatologist mistook a very deep internal bacterial infection for dermatitis. And then, both American-trained specialists in Bangkok could only prescribe stronger and ineffective antibiotics after the infection had encapsulated itself.

Pardon me for posting without my rose tinted glasses. I have the best medical care in northern Thailand, and I appreciate it. No need to get mis-diagnosed in central Thailand for twice the price.

[CarlBkk]

Agree with the OP completely. I get very frustrated with the way every Thai will run to the doctor as quickly as possible, coming back with 4 medicines which they don't need (or already have in the cupboard) and 1500 baht lighter. Being a hospital shareholder here is lucrative I'm sure. I'm now at the stage where I will go in to see the doctor too and refuse some medicines that I know are surplus - I think I'll make the doctor lose face though.

A lot of it is education - they don't really know what they're taking, most don't even know a common cold cannot be cured by medicine. Not their own fault really, but biology and practiciality need more attention in schools.

[TerryLH]

"They think i know nothing and you are correct, they love to take medicine and i've seen the hospitals admit people for 4 days with a common cold. (western hospitals here in Phuket)"

There's a simple explanation for this. A lot of folks have insurance that pays them for every day they stay overnight in a hospital.

[teletiger]

Refused a few medications in the U.K. myself. 6 quid prescription fee for 1 months supply of children's aspirin. Money, meaning more than life to me, I chopped up a blister pack of normal aspirin.

My apologies to PB. I spoke of "her festering foot" and you came back with "his Texas village". The pigeon-holing wasn't too painful I trust.? Village in Texas? Was that South/south/south Texas? Whatever. You're doing a splendid job.

Regards

[joefromdc]

Let's not also forget Thais have an extraordinarily time "unlearning" or changing their ideas on almost anything--even in the light of proven, scientific evidence. If the Thais and science are at odds, chances are the Thais will think the science is wrong. If they all agree, it must be true, right?

A year and a half ago I had my tonsils removed here--It was cheaper to pay for this outright here then my co-pay on the insurance back in the States. My Doctor's instructions on eating after the surgery suggested eggs as an easily swallowed source of protein. I have a close female Thai friend who age is somewhere in the mid-fifties. When she heard I was eating eggs she freaked out on me. If you ever get to feeling too good about your level of understanding/speaking Thai language, having an old Thai lady freak out over the phone will bring you down to Earth--but I digress. One of the local "medical myths" is that eating eggs causes wounds to heal slower and scar more. This is absurd. My ENT doc is Thai. He specifically told me I could eat eggs. If you've ever had your tonsils out as an adult you will thank GOD for eggs, ice cream, noodles. A Thai buddy happened to be over at the time and I had to put him on the phone. After 5 minutes of talking to her, he explained all this for me. He said he tried to explain to her that my doctor had recommended this but couldn't convince her otherwise. In her mind the "wives' tale" trumps the doctor.

I am still waiting for the science behind "air conditioning causing sore throats". Though after being here almost six years, I reckon I have lowered expectations.

j.

[harrry]

I think PB must be THai he seems to spend forevever at the hospital clinics.

The other side of the story is that by treating things yourself without getting the diagnosis confirmed you may be lengthening the cure and spreading the infections wider.

[wasabi]

Maigo,

Slagging off on Thai people and Farang women is fun and a favorite hobby of many expats. Even Thai people enjoy it, though Farang women don't seem able to get the joke. I do agree people can get carried away, xenophobic and projective of all that ails them onto the Thai people.

In fairness I will give a complaint about an experience I had in America that would probably not happen here. I had Lasik on my left eye and my vision there is now perfect. My right eye still requires a very mild prescription. After my surgery I went to Lenscrafters to replace the left lens from my glasses with a piece of glass with no prescription as I still wanted to wear my glasses but didn't need a prescription in that side. The girl told me it was against the law to change the prescription without a note from an Optometrist and I had to have another test. I tried to explain I didn't see why I needed a doctor to certify that I want a piece of glass with no prescription. I went to another place that made the switch without any hassle. But that type of over thinking and zealousness perhaps due to fear of legal ramifications is a very American problem.

Edited March 2, 2009 by wasabi

[freddiefunk]

Maigo,

Slagging off on Thai people and Farang women is fun and a favorite hobby of many expats. Even Thai people enjoy it, though Farang women don't seem able to get the joke. I do agree people can get carried away, xenophobic and projective of all that ails them onto the Thai people.

In fairness I will give a complaint about an experience I had in America that would probably not happen here. I had Lasik on my left eye and my vision there is now perfect. My right eye still requires a very mild prescription. After my surgery I went to Lenscrafters to replace the left lens from my glasses with a piece of glass with no prescription as I still wanted to wear my glasses but didn't need a prescription in that side. The girl told me it was against the law to change the prescription without a note from an Optometrist and I had to have another test. I tried to explain I didn't see why I needed a doctor to certify that I want a piece of glass with no prescription. I went to another place that made the switch without any hassle. But that type of over thinking and zealousness perhaps due to fear of legal ramifications is a very American problem.

Have you ever had a health check-up; lost the receipt before you could get reimbursed for it at work; returned to the hospital to reprint the receipt only to be told you need a police report stating that you lost the original receipt before they could reprint another one?

[anothertorres]

from what i can tell, all you need is a chapstick of mentholatum to jam up your nose to make you feel better. apparantly it works on hangovers too. shit, i bet many people have rubbed their stick on open wounds!