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Sunday, December 04, 2005Doctors should discuss scientific arguments in an objective way when talking to the media, the Council for Medical Ethics of the Norwegian Medical Association ruled this week. The council was responding to a complaint that a professor of cardiology had claimed in a newspaper interview that government regulations requiring the first line use of thiazides for hypertension meant that doctors might risk "killing" their patients with a "rat poison drug." Evidently, the newspaper mixed up his comments about warfarin (also known as Coumadin, which is the stuff in D-Con) and thiazide diuretics - which, by the way, are perfectly safe, effective, and affordable drugs for the treatment of hypertension. It's easy to understand why the poor doctor is so frustrated and speaking off the cuff that way, however. In Norway, politicians evidently dictate the practice of medicine: The news story came after a change in drug regulations made by the Norwegian parliament in 2004, making low dosage thiazides the treatment of first choice for the management of hypertension. Doctors have to prescribe them unless they can give an explicit medical reason for making another choice. Do you suppose they have to petition parliament to get approval of a non-thiazide drug for their patients? posted by Sydney on 12/04/2005 05:25:00 PM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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