Having a doctor verify that you're not having any issues with your prescription medication is pretty normal.

Maybe you can find someone that'll do telehealth.

If I'm having issues I'll call the doctor. I don't need a babysitter.

There are definitely doctors who will space it out if you’re stable or do a phone refill

I think some tech health platforms like Capsule will even have a pharmacist call your doctor for a refill for you.

It means you need to pay your doctor and this company.

Some people do though. Imagine someone who just lets this stuff lapse and they are still being regularly prescribed stuff that should have been cancelled 8 years ago.

Just like how we require people to check in with their accountant every 6 months to make sure their finances are doing well, check in with a teacher and take a test every year to make sure our education is still up to date, and we have the cops investigate us biannually to catch any signs of legal trouble early.

We don't and we shouldn't require everyone to be nannied just because some people might benefit - they can seek those services on their own if they wish. Requiring someone else's permission to maintain your personal health would be considered just as absurd if it weren't the status quo.

Please, sign a notarized document saying you, your family or the DA won't sue because you were (a) lost to follow-up, (b) developed a medical condition as you grew older, (c) got a side effect because of long term medical use. Then, don't waste ER time if you have a stroke or heart attack because government can't tell me not to eat trans fats.

And, by the way, if you have an accountant, you should check in more than once a year. It's not fair to them to dump stuff only during tax time. Also, I do have to do regular tests to make sure my medical knowledge is up to date.

If we could sue hospitals into paying out because we developed medical conditions as we aged, there wouldn't be any hospitals.

You have to qualify your statement with "if you have an accountant" because I don't have to have an accountant, it is an optional service I can seek if I want. In my case, I do my own taxes, and if I don't get as big a tax return as I could've back, it hurts nobody but me.

The requirement for you to do regular tasks for the privilege of practicing your profession is forced upon you because the the consequences of any lapse in your knowledge are borne by others, not you. I too have professional requirements, but I can choose a different profession and be absolved of all of them.

A chronic condition is not a choice. Dealing with your pain is not a privilege, it is a right. The idea that people should be forced to forego their right based on the idea that some others will benefit (a dubious claim for which I can find no evidence supporting) is absurd.

Thanks for your response. I think I was unfairly attacking you after a rough day. I'll just say that preventative care is very important and you have a right to receive the proper medication.

People already die quietly alone all the time. How far do we need to go to have everyone have a babysitter, especially at their own expense?

I think the idea is that the doctor is actively intervening in your medical treatment, so they have a responsibility to make sure they're getting it right. This person is free to stop taking their meds and die alone whenever they like.

Visits to the doctor should be cheaper and more efficient, but people shouldn't stop going to the doctor.

I find it fascinating that the HN crowd complains about doctors being too expensive. I mean what is the comparative value that software developers add to society compared to doctors that justify their salaries (which are often on the same level or higher)?

False equivalence. Software developers "charge" companies (that are very much able to pay) for their services. Doctors charge everyone, from the rich to the poor, for their services. The poor (and even not-so-poor) get screwed by this, more often than not. I haven't heard of a bunch of software developers bankrupting people in exchange for their health...

Why is it always "doctors" and not "administrators" in these threads on HN? They don't set the price of the drug. They don't set the price of an ER visit. If their hourly rate seems high, have you seen the hourly rate of a plumber who absolutely did not go to school for ten years?

Most people in IT related fields aren't at doctor level pay.

I suspect the sentiment is from commonly interacting with absolutely useless doctors. There are a lot of them.

I've seen 200k+ salaries as standard here. Look up salaries of primary care physicians. Then add on the 50k+/year MD debt, and any undergrad debt.

That's not a normal range for most of the country doing SWE. If you know where to get that type of job let me know. I've done blind, sent out tons of applications, whatever. Hurts to know I'm potentially screwing myself out of tens of thousands of dollars, but nobody is contacting me back.

My professional contacts have told me I'm doing senior level work but nobody will respond even for positions below that.

Haha greener grass and all I guess. I've seen those numbers on glassdoor and a couple threads here.

Edit: sorry it was site https://www.levels.fyi/company/Google/salaries/Software-Engi.... No idea how real it is.

Yeah, I've seen it. Not many companies seem to pay well. An issue (on the employer side) is my lack of degree, but as stated I'm doing senior level work and have plenty of experience.

Doctors are the third leading cause of death, after only heart disease and cancer.

By many measure: if you see a doctor, cross the street.

I’m in the same position my dr is kind enough to let me email in for refills.

So? Some people need exercise, does that mean the government should force everyone to exercise?

I personally prefer a proactive doctor. Life gets busy and I don't always find time to get checkups and such. A small nudge from the doctor's office to get a checkup pays dividends. People with chronic conditions do need monitoring. It shouldn't be absurdly expensive.

I take a medication for a rest-of-your-life condition I've had since childhood. The simple blood test used to calibrate dosing is about $10 in saner countries. In order to get the blood drawn and tested it costs me >$100 out of pocket and I also have to see a doctor for a half hour ($250) before they'll update my prescription, regardless of if there is any change. This is with insurance, and must happen every 2 years or so. Medication cost is $10/mo or so.

This is completely ridiculous, and yet my situation is downright reasonable compared to what a lot of people have to deal with.

I shouldn't have to take permission from anyone to be able to buy the medicines I need. This is a cartel-type situation where your pharmacist won't sell you meds unless you pay a doctor.

When a prescription becomes your baseline you should stop having to mother may I except for changes to it.

Have you considered stocking up at the Mexican border? So many things are available over the counter in Mexico its awesome.

Is that legal?

Been there done that but from a different continent flying in. Nobody cares in general unless you're importing scheduled substances. You need to do your research but it's a way to beat the racket.

Drive up to the border and walk across on a day trip to the pharmacy. I believe the first few miles into the country are a NAFTA special economic zone with very relaxed paperwork requirements.

You can personally import up to 3 months worth of medications if you have doctors prescription.

https://www.fda.gov/industry/import-basics/personal-importat...

You can buy prescription drugs online from India without a prescription for super cheap. They arrive in your mail.

This is probably illegal, but not enforced.

I’m insured so it’d actually be cheaper for me personally to go in to the doctor and ask for a prescription. But I got tired of taking time out of my day for this - these are just beta blockers for fuck’s sake.

> You can buy prescription drugs online from India without a prescription for super cheap. They arrive in your mail.

And what guarantee do you have of their contents?

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS [1]) by an independent third-party lab [2]. For unscheduled substances they'll even email you the mass plot.

Nearly all of our (US) pharmaceuticals already come from India anyways. Manufactured there from Chinese bulk precursors.

I trust a third-party GC/MS plot way more than any brand slapped on a package.

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_chromatography–mass_spec...

[2] https://energycontrol-international.org/

I'm confused. Are you saying that every time you receive a package of medications from India, you send a sample off to for spectrometry?

That seems extremely arduous.

The point is that you don't trust this specific supply chain/manufacturer, which is part of the approval process.

"India/China" is not some monolithic entity that is either good or bad, there are some manufacturers that you can trust, and some you cannot.

Quality control in drug manufacturing is what ensures that every single pill has the correct dose, and not some random batch accidentally having 100x the active drug you need - or 0.01%.

the good pharmacies in India have started asking for prescriptions.. so, one is left to go the sketchy/tinier ones, where quality can be expected to be lower as well.

… kind of. There are certain personal use exceptions, but definitely something you want to speak with a lawyer about.

Don't need to speak to a lawyer. Millions of folks do this every year to save money. Doesn't mean they'll have unique drugs in stock however.

My contact lens prescription is similar.

Contact lens prescriptions change though, and bad contacts can do subtle damage to the wearer’s eye. I have permanent scarring in my eyes because I over-wore my 2 week contacts, my fault I know, but without an eye doctor appointment I would have done even more damage.

Wow, no kidding? I used to wear mine for months, maybe even close to a year. Anytime I had my eyes examined I asked how my eyes looked due to the constant wear and the optometrist told me they looked great but frowned at me doing so. I figured the disposable contact thing was mostly a racket, but I had some doubts. I wear glasses now.

These were the 2 week variety that were on sale between 2008 and 2012, after which I changed to 1 month lenses. It’s possible that newer lenses are better when worn outside the recommended range.

I’ve had the same script for 20 years.

I should add that the same thing applies to glasses.

Sorry to say but you'll have to find a better doctor if all you're getting is refills without being seen. It's a sad state of medicine but primary care is being rapidly replaced by NP/PAs who do a good job but are very regimented in their thinking.