A Tuesday Morning Commendation And A Friendly Reminder

Drug use and abuse had been a rather hot topic in the first year for the Duterte presidency. Anyone who used or was identified (whether accurately or fraudulently) as a methamphetamine hydrochloride user was instantly at risk for death. We at PinoyDoctor.com do not need to add to the reporting regarding that issue. There is a layer of drug use and abuse that has yet to become a virulent issue in the Philippines, though. That of prescription drug abuse.

Call it an epidemic restricted only for “the haves,” or those who can afford it, or maybe it’s just the fact that street-level drugs are still so prevalent that there seems to be no need for the abuse of the substances, but we should certainly be thankful that no one’s reaching Prince or Michael Jackson levels in terms of painkiller and opioid abuse just yet.

Thank the pharmacists, as well, for upholding prescription license laws. And just a Tuesday morning reminder to our revered physicians to uphold one of the tenets of the Medical Profession, “primum non nocere”: First Do No Harm.

Indeed, we at PinoyDoctor.com would like to extend our gratitude to our proactive physicians and pharmacists who always choose to uphold prescription laws and choose to First Do No Harm, always.

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In other news, MIMS released a special on bedside manners. One of the issues that have been in the news in the past few years had been patients’ complaints of the treatment in government hospitals. We at PinoyDoctor.com would just like to send out this friendly reminder that the call is to, from the lines of the Declaration of Geneva:

The health of my patient will be my first consideration;

I will not permit considerations of age, disease or disability, creed, ethnic origin, gender, nationality, political affiliation, race, sexual orientation, social standing or any other factor to intervene between my duty and my patient;

I will maintain the utmost respect for human life.

And from the lines of the Hippocratic Oath:

I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures which are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.

I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug.

I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient's recovery.

I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. Above all, I must not play at God.

I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.

I will prevent disease whenever I can but I will always look for a path to a cure for all diseases.

I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.

If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help.

With that, we bid you a lovely, happy Tuesday, Pinoy Doctors from around the globe.