Decades ago, during a very difficult time of managing sleep apnea, I went to a specialist who prescribed a new medication that he guaranteed would keep me awake. It sounded like a Godsend. I was experiencing what they referred to as drop attacks. Without even recognizing that I was sleepy during the day, out of nowhere, as if someone flipped a switch, I was immediately asleep. Asleep at the wheel might work effectively as the name of a music group, but it was closely akin to imminent peril if you were driving a car. I welcomed the new medication.
The next day as I was making my early morning commute to work, while listening to a morning talk show on the radio, an advertisement for the medication I was taking jolted me completely awake. The ad included possible negative side-effects of this new medication. The most serious was "instant death." I am not making this up. That would certainly have the potential for ruining one's plans for one's day.
Second on the list was bizarre psychiatric disturbances including suicide ideation, depression, and other off-the-wall kinds of behavior that might lead one to think you were crazy. Okay, so I've put some of that into my own words, but there was not a snowball's chance in hell that I was going to take another dose of the medication. Thanks, but NO thanks.
It concerned me a little bit that the General thought I was overreacting. She may have been right.
On Monday of this week, I had an appointment with my dermatologist. I have been one of his patients for at least twenty years. He is credible and from my impression, at the top of the leaderboard when it comes to doctors. As has been the case for the past couple of three years when I've been escorted to an examining room, I was asked if I'd provide permission for him to be accompanied by a couple of new doctors. I assumed it was some sort of on-the-job training. I didn't mind.
I the course of the examine, he asked if I would mind switching to a different medication that would be more than effective. Why would I possibly mind? Well, for starters, I needed to have blood work done before I took the medication. I also needed to have blood work done after thirty days of taking the medication and come back for another appointment.
That should have been enough for alarm bells to go off inside my head. I was a little anxious about switching the treatment regime. Like I said, I trust the guy, so I agreed to the new treatment regime. After the three doctors left the examining room, his assistant came in with forms to use at the lab and a treatment released form that I needed to initial in several places followed by my signature. The staff person told me to fill the form out in the primary waiting room and drop it off at the front desk when I left.
I made my way to the waiting room, hurriedly provided my initials in at least five places and signed the paperwork. It was then that I opted to read the document. Instant death wasn't mentioned as a possible side effect. Other than that, it was pretty much like the ad I had heard on the radio decades before.
One of the paragraphs read: "I understand that some patients while taking "@#+#@"or soon after stopping "@#+#@," have become depressed or developed other serious mental problems. Symptoms of depression include sad, "anxious" or empty mood, irritability, acting on dangerous impulses, anger, loss of pleasure or interest in social or sports activities, sleeping too much or too little, changes in weight or appetite, school or work performance going down, or trouble concentrating. Some patients taking "@#+#@" have had thoughts about hurting themselves or putting an end to their own lives (suicidal thoughts). Some people tried to end their own lives. And some people have ended their own lives. There were reports that some of these people did not appear depressed. There have been reports of patients on "@#+#@" becoming aggressive or violent. No one knows if "@#+#@" caused these behaviors or if they would have happened if the person did not take "@#+#." Some people have had other signs of depression while taking "@#+#@."
I made an oath to myself that I would never initial acceptance of anything before reading the fine print. I put an X across the form and wrote Permission Canceled on the form. I asked the attendant at the desk to please notify doctor's assistant that provided me the form.
The doctor's assistant assured me than none of the doctor's patients had ever had any of those reactions. I suggested that she thank me, I'd be the one exception.
All My Best!
Don
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