Be healthy, wallet!
Marina Poroshina, Yekaterinburg
Rossiyskaya Gazeta – Ural No. 4626 of April 1, 2008
A new pharmacy has opened on my street. And now we have two grocery stores and eight pharmacies in the district. It is clear that under market conditions, the supply is dictated by demand and that no merchant, such as the owners of pharmacies, will work at a loss, so it remains to conclude that the population carries money to pharmacies much more willingly and that analgin is sold even better than sausage.
Responsible self-treatmentSpeaking of analgin.
According to statistics, this is the most favorite medicine of Russians, with which we successfully replace any doctor – from a neurologist to a dentist – inexpensive and does not require a prescription. And few people know that because of possible complications, sodium metamizole (analgin) has been banned in the UK since 1965, in the USA since 1977, and Malaysia, Morocco, Zimbabwe and other countries that we used to consider much less advanced than ourselves have recently abandoned it. And another important point: for example, in an Israeli pharmacy, you can buy without a prescription, except for a bandage and a band-Aid. And we have antibiotics, antidepressants, sleeping pills, hormonal drugs on free sale. And even such a term appeared among specialists – "responsible self-treatment": it implies that the patient assumes responsibility for the results of self-treatment. You probably remember how the population immediately panicked when they found out that nothing would be sold in our pharmacies without a prescription, including validol. Everyone was already preparing to die of heart attacks in queues to doctors, and doctors were preparing for the imminent collapse of the Russian medical system, which barely copes with the existing flow of patients, when everyone was reassured: nothing like that, we are talking only about tightening control over the release of medicines that should be sold by prescription.
And in order for the population to take a breath of relief, the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy and Entrepreneurship once again did not support the legislative initiative aimed at banning the advertising of medicines.
Treat yourself to health, everything is at your service!
Underpants for all occasionsAs soon as Russians found out that there are nanotechnologies in the world, a fashion for high-tech underpants, bras and insoles immediately appeared in the capital of the Urals.
Fashion adherents gather for seminars, where they are shown multi-part films about how clothes with "biophotons" work, special literature is issued, and instruction is given. Quote from a thick book with diagrams and photos: "Biophotons are a stream of particles or quanta with zero mass emitted by biological raw materials (medicinal herbs) after special treatment. The point of application of biophotons is a cell whose structure is capable of absorbing energy quanta or photons emitted by biological raw materials… As a result of the use of space cryophysical installations ... scientists and developers have obtained a completely new method of human health improvement." According to the sellers, the revolutionary products treat everything in general – from acne, myopia and depression to oncology. A pillowcase costs 2499 rubles, a plaid – 7199, women's underpants – 2099, men's - 1799, beads – 6199, a magic telephone card – 749. And magic sanitary pads "differ in a variety of ways of application and mobility"! As an epigraph, by the way, the words of the current president are given: "Nanotechnology will enter the life of every person without exaggeration ..." Well, how can you resist, pray tell?
I showed excerpts from the brochure to a specialist – one of the few in the Urals, and in Russia, who has information about nanotechnology. Vladimir Shur, director of the Center for collective use "Laboratory of Scanning Probe Microscopy" of USU, was brief:
– Explanations look like a meaningless set of words!
Oh, and another thing: the seller of the magic product receives a bonus from the company, attracting new members to classes. Does this remind you of anything?
I'm glad to be deceived myselfThere are more than 200 pharmacies in Yekaterinburg.
But a person is so built that if he wants to believe in something - in the end of the world, in the healing power of shark cartilage or in the conscientiousness of dietary supplement dealers, then you can't move him with a tractor. A resident of Yekaterinburg Galina Rudakova bought into newspaper advertising and bought some pills for the treatment of joints. She was not alarmed that the seller was selling the goods in the back of the cafe, but she was quite satisfied with the explanation: in this way the company saves on rent, which allows her to generously make a discount for labor veterans, selling them medicines for a course of treatment not for 13 thousand, like everyone else, but for only six. The solid insert, which scientifically explained the principle of the beneficial effect of the pill, also inspired confidence. What was her surprise when she found the same pills in the pharmacy – the price tag indicated 183 rubles 54 kopecks…
– It's amazing how easily our people, especially women, are deceived, – says gynecologist Elena Noritskaya. – The simplest example: today a lot of tools are advertised to help a woman survive the menopause. Very intelligible: a lady of elegant age does not drink such-and–such drops - everything is not going well with her, she cannot leave the house because of some delicate problems. And she bought, drank – and immediately a gentleman with a bouquet came to her. Meanwhile, any doctor will explain to such a patient that the issue will not be solved by "droplets" in any case, that the prolapse of the uterus, which may be the cause of everything, will only worsen and eventually require surgical intervention. And if she had come to the doctor right away, she would have learned about a set of simple exercises that in most cases can solve all problems.
But the exercises are free, you can't sell them at the pharmacy, so they are not advertised.
Doctor, heal yourself!Although a visit to the doctor, to be honest, sometimes brings unexpected results.
The ENT doctor strongly recommended a homeopathic remedy for the treatment of adenoids in a child to the mother of seven-year-old Veronika from Pervouralsk. Drink grains from three jars by the hour for three months… Didn't help? Then here's a referral to a medical center in Yekaterinburg, where they help get rid of parasites with the help of a magnetic device – don't you know that all our diseases are caused by parasites? In the end, six months later, my mother still had to take her daughter to the surgeon, having lost both time and money, and having exhausted the child with experiments.
The problem is that sometimes the doctor himself is inside the medical marketing system, which has the same relation to the protection of your health as the marketing of any other product, which, by definition, is a management system of the organization's production and sales activities aimed at obtaining an acceptable amount of profit through accounting and active influence on market conditions. As you can see, there is not a word about health here. Active representatives of pharmaceutical companies "spud" doctors, and those, in turn, "strongly recommend" patients to buy a particular drug at a certain pharmacy or undergo treatment at a specific commercial medical center. However, sometimes everything is not so primitive: you can simply be handed a beautiful booklet and offered to "think". And the doctor will be paid not with money, but, for example, with a corporate party in a restaurant.
In a healthy brainWhere is the exit?
It would seem to be simple, and there is no need to reinvent the wheel: the sale of pharmaceuticals by prescription is explained by the state's concern for the safety of its citizens. The task of the doctor prescribing the medicine is not only to strive to achieve the desired therapeutic effect, but also to ensure the safety of the patient, since only a professional doctor has the necessary knowledge to anticipate all aspects of taking the medicine.
– Today, more than 80 percent of medicines are dispensed without a prescription in pharmacies, – says David Melik-Huseynov, an analyst of the pharmaceutical market. – In general, judging by expert estimates, in Russia thoughtlessly, unreasonably consumed medicines account for up to a third of the total amount – this is many times more than in other countries. In the USA, for example, this indicator is equal to three percent.
But for some reason the state does not seek to take care of us. Perhaps the fact is that the volume of the pharmaceutical market in Russia is growing at an unprecedented pace: in 2007 it increased by 16.5 percent and its volume amounted to $ 6.5 billion.
I found a charming piece of advice on the topic in the advertising slogan of a certain non-governmental brain institute established in Yekaterinburg. It says: "In a healthy brain, a healthy mind!"
So, without relying on the state, it remains to rely only on a healthy brain, not spoiled by sleeping on a nanowall and wearing a nanowall. Otherwise…
CommentAndrey Kaspirovich, member of the Sverdlovsk Regional Bar Association:
– In market conditions, there is no responsibility for speculation. Speculation is now called business. Are medicines offered to citizens at a cost much higher than their price in pharmacies? But everyone has the right to offer their property for sale at a price determined by themselves. Business is business. But the implementation of business by the state is regulated and should be controlled. You can sell medicines only if you have the appropriate license. This is how the law "On Licensing of certain types of Activities" defines. And if such an activity is carried out by an individual, then he must necessarily have a higher or secondary pharmaceutical education and the status of an individual entrepreneur. Otherwise, the citizen will be liable under Article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Illegal entrepreneurship". A similar responsibility is borne by a citizen who sells non-medicinal drugs, but forgot to inform the state about his business activities.
If a gullible person, under the guise of an ultra–modern and miraculous drug, speaking in modern slang, was "sold" analgin tablets or another, albeit at best harmless, but worthless remedy, then there are signs of a criminal offense under Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - fraud.
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01.04.2008