Mexico,New,Prescription,Drug,L travel,insurance Mexico's New Prescription Drug Law - Good or Bad?
Like any American, traveling occasionally is just what I love doing and I bet you share the same stuff with me. But traveling does not mean that you would be safe. Escaping from our job and other stressful activities is just something that w Torres del Paine is among the biggest of Chiles national parks, occupying almost 600,000 acres (242,000 ha) of land in the south on the border with Argentina. It is also among the most important, receiving a significant proportion of domes
Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;mso-para-margin:0in;mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:#0400;mso-fareast-language:#0400;mso-bidi-language:#0400;}The Mexican government passed a new law a few months agorequiring that all consumers who purchase antibiotics must present an originalprescription from a certified Mexican doctor. This means no citizen,resident or tourist in Mexicois allowed to just walk into a pharmacy in Mexico and buy whatever antibioticthey choose without first visiting a doctor. Although this new decreemakes it more difficult for many to treat simple illnesses like travelersdiarrhea by simply purchasing Cipro (ciprofloxacin - an antibiotic usedto treat bacterial infections), the law appears to be well-intended and mayactually do some good.A couple of months ago while we were in the US Allan's American doctorrecommended Allan take Cipro for a week to cure a minor medicalcondition. Allan decided to pick up the drug when we returned to Playa del Carmen as it was less expensive(and we were unaware of the new law). When Allan sent me to the pharmacy in Mexico I wasstunned that the pharmacists would not sell it without a prescription. They mentioned a new law passed and pointed to a sign explaining the newlegislation. I unsuccessfully tried 4 different pharmacies, hoping onewould ignore the law.At first we viewed the law with a bit of disdain. Is Mexico finallytrying to be a first world country by passing protective legislation? What about all us gringos who want to easily buy antibiotics without ahassle? This is the country where construction workers toil in dangerousand inhospitable environments with often little or no protection. Why notworry about them? Why decide to regulate and control prescriptiondrugs? Why not focus on something else that might actually have apositive impact, like creating safer work environments?Our opinion has since changed after speaking with a local Mexican doctor. According to him the Mexican legislature was faced with a financial crisis andfelt compelled to act. Many sick were incorrectly self-medicatingthemselves with antibiotics, often with the wrong dosage or completely wrongmedicine. Consequently the state sponsored hospitals were seeing a risein the amount of patients who required stronger, and hence more expensive,antibiotics because the bacteria was becoming resistant to theantibiotics. Through improper use and dosage, the sick were essentiallynot killing the bacteria, but rather making it stronger. Hypothetically 8out of every 10 patients would now need the more expensive drug and the statewould have to pay for it. Additionally, by now requiring people to firstvisit a doctor the state would essentially help to control proper diagnosis andtreatment of illnesses, thus also providing more public safety and cutting costby hopefully having less sick.Although the new prescription drug law makes it more difficult for us to treatminor illnesses on our own, it does help us to correctly treat our medicalproblems and hopefully stop the stem of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Hopefully the government will be able to cut costs and put the money to gooduse, like stemming drug violence. A routine visit from a doctor isprobably a good idea anyway, even if it is not the most convenient.The new law also has allowed me to experience the humor of living in Mexico. Yesterday at thepharmacy the technician was pointing to a line item on the prescription andindicated that it was not in their system. Written in English were thewords "plenty of fluids". I explained that it meant the patientshould drink more water. When the technician could not find in theirsystem another item on the list I joking said it meant "kiss more girls".
Mexico,New,Prescription,Drug,L