Antibiotic abuse killing thousands in Thailand

[thaipod]

Took the maid to the local Govt hospital and sat there for a couple of hours near the pharmacy and could not believe the amount of different drugs being subscribed. Every patient had at least 4 or more different bags with antibiotics. The maid had painkillers with antibiotics for back pain.

[lungnorm]

Yes I had the same experience in my many visits to Thailand. Lucky for me I have had a health problem most of my life and my doctors in Australia educated me and would only prescribe me antibiotics for the most serious of my seemingly regular flare ups. I was able to buy without scrip some of the most strongest antibiotics whilst in Thailand. I only used antibiotics as a last ditch tool and many times my illnesses fixed them selves. I am now retired in the Philippines and it is nearly the same here but sometimes the Pharmacist will say he needs a scrip so I have just gone to another pharmacist. I know it sounds like I use too many antibiotics but my condition is chronic and sometimes I have to take them. I wish I could avoid them and so far so good I have only had to use them twice in 2yrs.  

[oldlakey]

1 hour ago, Suttisan said:

He wants to get out of rama 9 hospital,  I was told I most likely had a brain tumor by those quacks,  after an expensive scan it turned out I had a nerve issue in my back. They also tried to prescribe me antidepressants for no reason. 

If you weren't depressed after that experience you should have been

[Lupatria]

The medical and especially the pharmaceutical situation here run under the headline:

"Chargeable Natural Selection"

[BKKdreaming]

45 minutes ago, lamecn said:

Even in Europe doctors are prescribing antibiotics without cultivating the bacteria, to check what kind of antibiotic is needed. Once you've started the use of an antibiotic, and it doesn't work, the doctors are "blindfolded" in their attempt trying to find the right product. Insist on having the bacteria cultivated and tested against different antibiotics before you start a treatment. It might save your life.

 

Has anyone tried this in thailand ?

 

and how long does it take to cultivate the bacteria ?

 

People want "instant" help , and i doubt most want to wait for the results !

 

But most things like colds and flu go away after a few days with no drugs :)

[curtklay]

54 minutes ago, dotpoom said:

Would you be suggesting that doctor's in the West don't do the same. I'v watched umpteen documentaries on how the drug companies pay doctors (and give grand holidays) to prescribe all sorts of s - - - to unknowing patients.

  Isn't prescribed drugs one of the leading causes of death...up in the first 3 if I'm not mistaken. 

 

Very true. Except we are talking specifically about antibiotics. US doctors are now very hesitant to prescribe antibiotics unless they are convinced they will help the condition.

In Thailand, you can buy them over the counter, and doctors hand them out for almost anything. It's just another example of how backwards things are here.

 

Yes, prescription drugs are are a leading cause of death in the west, but they are not necessarily "prescribed". Opioids are now common street drugs, and are easily obtained illegally. But you are certainly correct that the drug companies are "pushers" and doctors are "dealers" when there is big money to be made.

[silent]

37 minutes ago, rkidlad said:

I always google the drugs my missus brings back. I haven't used antibiotics for years. I always try to fight off illness naturally. 

That's what I was getting at. In your googling have you had luck getting information from a Thai or other Asian pharmaceutical company? 

[kunfish]

Over-prescription of antibiotics, even when not needed, happens in the US. 

 

Kid gets a freaking bad cold and the doctor give a prescription for antibiotics.

 

This is not a Thai-specific issue.

[Tchooptip]

6 hours ago, jerojero said:

Not surprised. Wife's family used to take penicillin every time they caught a cold or sore throat, until I emphatically explained the difference between bacteria and viruses....and penicillin useless against viruses.

 

 

 

And my wife takes antibiotic like aspirin 

Useless to say anything we farangs do not know...  

[silent]

1 hour ago, curtklay said:

 

Very true. Except we are talking specifically about antibiotics. US doctors are now very hesitant to prescribe antibiotics unless they are convinced they will help the condition.

In Thailand, you can buy them over the counter, and doctors hand them out for almost anything. It's just another example of how backwards things are here.

 

Yes, prescription drugs are are a leading cause of death in the west, but they are not necessarily "prescribed". Opioids are now common street drugs, and are easily obtained illegally. But you are certainly correct that the drug companies are "pushers" and doctors are "dealers" when there is big money to be made.

Ironically when talking the well known addictive drugs, the biggest pushers I'm aware of are the ones invented about 20 years for ago that you can't buy illegally buy to treat or create mental illnesses. Most people still don't know they can be like playing Russian roulette especially if the user decides to stop taking them because of something stupid like what's supposed to be helping is exacerbating the problem getting to or staying asleep without passing out. 

 

Some doctors prescribed them like they were candy and it's only recently at least in Ontario. Somebody finally caught on and started taking action to stop companies legally recruiting their doctor pushers with lavish dinners and vacation packages like door to door sales companies do to brainwash their sales people. It's all just part of business marketing. 

Edited November 14, 2016 by silent

[Beats56]

2 hours ago, faraday said:

I take Amlodipine 10mg once a day.

 

When I measured my bp about 2 weeks ago & it was higher, I went to see a doc....

He told me to take the Amlodopine 3 times a day!

Don't know if he was just stupid or very stupid.

 

I take the same along with Diovan 160 MG if my BP is high but lately it has been pretty normal. I don't why it is not high like before. diet maybe. I get it free as my Tgf mother takes the same. She gets it free and gives it to me.

[Beats56]

1 hour ago, rkidlad said:

I always google the drugs my missus brings back. I haven't used antibiotics for years. I always try to fight off illness naturally. 

I do the same thing and I won't take them antibiotics they hand out like candy.

[Beats56]

At least in Ontario the pharmacy gives you a paper to tell you the side effects etc on the drugs they give you. Not here. They just give you a little plastic pouch and write on it. No child safety containers either. 

 

[atyclb]

3 hours ago, SpokaneAl said:

I am always amazed at the way locals and family members believe that it is okay to pass drugs left over from a prescription to other friends and/or family members. Most have no idea of the makeup or the correct use for those drugs.

 

 

if they have a medical problem that merits the same drug left over from another family member then whats the problem?

[ericnoodeeka]

its not really about doctors and over subscribing or commision is it? any pharmacy here will sell u them anytime.

i know, i bought them myself for a tooth infection. if i was in the uk, i would have had to go to the dentist or doctor, here i just go to tesco and pop in the farmacy, thats the biggest problem i think.

[Roota]

7 hours ago, balo said:

It's a shame whats going on in this country .  

Unfortunately it's not just 'this country'. Antibiotics are given out like candy in most of the developing world. In fact as bad as Thailand is, it's probably worse in poorer countries like Laos and Cambodia, where out of poverty or ignorance people taking antibiotics for legitimate reasons stop the course before it's finished. That's a recipe for building germ-resistant bugs.

[richy2201]

Ironically, as I was reading this thread, I had sent the GF to the pharmacy to get a decongestant for head cold.  3 guesses what she returned with......a pack of decongestant, a pack of pain reliever and yes, a pack of antibiotics (which will be put into the designated, ever increasing "useless/not needed antibiotic drawer".)

Disgraceful, unbelievable, frustrating, comical etc etc.  In my naivety I had thought even this simplest of tasks to the pharmacy could have been executed without returning with a pack of hardcore antibiotics to treat a minor ailment.  I was wrong.  Again. 

[dinsdale]

It's not just ease of access and over prescription but miss use also. MMM I've taken 4 tabs feel better now no need to take the rest. This just breeds resistance. Scared to think of whats going into the meat.

[lee b]

Is there sugar in these pills? 

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

7 hours ago, trogers said:

I wouldn't be surprised that these readily available antibiotics are locally produced too...and have been for decades!

 

Next, fissionable materials...

So is the vehicle you drive, the chair you sit on, the bed you sleep on, most of the food you eat and and.... What is your post aiming at ? Thai products are inferior ? Please do your research about the big pharma's role in the anti biotic problems of the world and the spread of this into agriculture and the food we eat. 

[trogers]

1 minute ago, SOUTHERNSTAR said:

So is the vehicle you drive, the chair you sit on, the bed you sleep on, most of the food you eat and and.... What is your post aiming at ? Thai products are inferior ? Please do your research about the big pharma's role in the anti biotic problems of the world and the spread of this into agriculture and the food we eat. 

 

The word - Control!

[sandemara]

Taking 20-25 paracetamol tablets in one go has become a traditional way to  quietly neck yourself. That's all it takes with a drug freely available.  You can crush five and mix with water; leave the tasteless mix out in a dish for an annoying cat you target for quiet assassination.  Seems crazy to allow free access to such a potent poison, but possession of ganja gets you 10-20 years in weird, illogical values

[Mangostin]

I might just have got one of these so called "superbugs".

A few years back, i believe i got what in the UK it's called the "silent killer", as it kills around 150k people every year, i do lots of gardening and often get scratches or things into my eyes.

I reached a point i struggled to breath, and after touring a dozen of even "top hospitals" in Bangkok, the last one made me take 5 or 6 chest's x-rays in less than an hour, as he said he couldn't see anything into my lungs.

The doctor, with the wall behind him literally covered by all the various degrees and certificates gained in the US, Australia, UK,.....said he didn't know what it was, but guessed probably TBC, so he made me undergo 6 or 8 months of a cocktail made of many different drugs.

During a routine check up, another of these hi-so professionals, said to me that we farangs, are to blame for these sickness, because before we came here, Thailand didn't had it........

Anyway, the mix seemed to work, but after some time, i started having problem with my stomach, i went back on tour, they gave me probably every single drug on this planet but nothing seemed to work, the "experts" told me that they gave to me already all the antibiotics to threat any possible thing i could have.

I went to Dr Google, and after many searches, it looked like the problem i had, was related to a massive use of antibiotics, but i am not a GP, so my last chance now is to go back home and see if they can have some better guesses   

[KenKadz]

I find web sites like [www.WebMD.com] - [www.drugs.com] and a few others are incredible sources of information for diagnostics and medication information.

 

Then I go to the Clinic and I get; red tablets - green tablets - white tablets - blue tablets, etc.

Red Tablets are the Best!!!!

[irwinfc]

doctors here prescribe (strong) antibiotics to keep their cure rates high

[Khon Kaen Dave]

200 baht for Paracetamol???? the ma and pa shop in our village will sell you 50 500gm tabs for 25 baht.Where do you live,Pattaya???

[georgemandm]

9 hours ago, balo said:

They just don't know and the doctors here  will supply you with antibiotics even if you don't need it. It's a shame whats going on in this country .  

If is funny you know I was say on here how bad it is when you go to a thai hospital and get all those pills for a small problem and 

TV members had a go at me .

now look what is happening to thai people like in  India that same thing.

just go to the  chemist and buy what you like with out a prescription from a doctor.

[Moonmoon]

My wife wanted to get antibiotics in while we were in Singapore cos of a sore throat.

 

She was refused and prescribed lozenges instead. 

 

She was confused.

[Artisi]

5 hours ago, curtklay said:

Thais are pill happy; they think there is a pill for anything and everything.

A Thai doctor told me, "If I don't prescribe some pills, my patients think I'm a lousy doctor".

Doctor candy, it makes you feel better ..... what else is there to be said?

[Artisi]

13 minutes ago, georgemandm said:

If is funny you know I was say on here how bad it is when you go to a thai hospital and get all those pills for a small problem and 

TV members had a go at me .

now look what is happening to thai people like in  India that same thing.

just go to the  chemist and buy what you like with out a prescription from a doctor.

prescription from a Thai medicine man - doesn't make one iota of difference, with or without a prescription -  Thai's in the main are over medicated mainly by the ones you are suggesting should be the only ones to "give out" prescriptions.