Can We Stop With the Snake Oil?
Seriously, it's worse now than ever
If you’re a long time reader, then you know how I feel about the anti-vaxxer movement.
Not a fan. Fuck ‘em. Especially the ‘vaccines cause autism’ crowd.
I can’t stand snake oil salesmen who spread misinformation — either because they think they know better than doctors, wanting to feel special for having ‘secret knowledge’ like some kind of medical Hipster, or because they’re panning for a quick buck off of vulnerable people.
Fuck those people.
I had a run in with one of them the other day and it just got right under my skin. This person tried to convince me that there was some kind of conspiracy to make up genetic disorders, and that my thyroid issues would be cured if I just took this special iodine blend someone was peddling online as a miracle drug.
I happen to know this guy is a full-on anti-vaxer and conspiracy theorist.
He said there were studies. I asked for the studies so I could read them. He backtracked immediately, said he’d have to look it up to find them, and anyway don’t cite him, just try it!
I walked away before I lost my shit.
But seriously, there’s more and more of this crap going around, especially since the Pandemic. People distrust science more, misinformation is rampant, and with the doctor shortage here in Canada people are desperate for anything they can get.
The situation is ripe for grifters. Taking advantage of desperate people pisses me off.
Trying to convince me I don’t know how to handle my own medical needs after I’ve been dealing with them my entire life pisses me off even further.
Giving advice like this to people that could easily get them killed if they fall for it is enough to make me blow my fucking lid.
The fact that this conversation happened in the pharmacy I work at was just the cherry on top. I’m not a pharmacist, but I was half tempted to call one of them over and see what they’d have to say to the gentleman in question about his theories.
Some people need to learn the hard way. And frankly, the pharmacy folks have more patience than I do.
Like I said, this stuff is becoming more and more popular, particularly since the anti-vax movement got a huge boost in the United States. I’ve made my opinions about RFK Jr. pretty clear, and his appointment to such a high office as the Head of Health and Human Services has only added fuel to the pseudoscience fire.
Healthcare ought to be a basic human right. In most of the world, it is.
Our doctor shortage here is a huge problem, exacerbated by physician burnout in the aftermath of the Pandemic — our medical professionals are doing what they can, but they’re only human.
Nobody got through the Pandemic and the horrors of what they witnessed in our hospitals unscathed. They’re burnt out, traumatised, and exhausted. And having to listen to Facebook-meme-level lies and slander from people who think it was a hoax, or that the vaccines are a ‘scam’ can’t be making life easier.
Our country is trying to fix it, but it isn’t a quick process.
We’re taking advantage of the brain drain coming from the U.S. and bringing in new immigrant doctors and nurses, but our country’s standards for education haven’t caught on. We badly need to make it easier for immigrant professionals to get certified to work here, otherwise we won’t catch up.
Until we do, people will continue to go without family doctors.
In the absence of that, they will try and look for other ways to treat their conditions as best they can. It’s not their fault that they’re getting taken in by people like that guy, but guys like him need a swift kick in the ass.
If I ever catch him giving horrible advice like that to the patients at our clinic and pharmacy, I’ll be stepping in. It’s unacceptable, it’s in poor taste, and it cannot be tolerated.
People can die because of misinformation like that. I’ll be damned if it happens on my watch.
Solidarity wins.