PRAIRIE DOC®
  • Home
  • About
  • People
  • TV
  • Perspective
  • Donate
  • Friends/Sponsors of the Prairie Doc
  • Radio and Podcasts
  • Contact
  • Foundation
  • Prairie Doc Publishing

December 27th, 2022

12/27/2022

 
Prairie Doc® Perspectives for week of December 25, 2022
If it sounds too good to be true
By Debra Johnston, M.D.


At my house, classic TV is a given. My 93-year-old father-in-law enjoys watching reruns of westerns, Perry Mason, Andy Griffith, and Gomer Pyle. With these old favorites come commercials targeting an aging population: Medicare Advantage plans, reverse mortgages, and “miracle solutions” for neuropathy, with free consultations for the first 250 people who call!


Every time we see one of these neuropathy advertisements, my father-in-law looks at me hopefully. 


His neuropathic foot pain has been intractable for decades. All the usual medical solutions have either brought minimal relief, or intolerable side effects. It interferes with his sleep, and the shuffling of his feet in response to the pain literally wore holes in the dining room linoleum. 


Any situation without a clear solution leaves an opportunity for the unscrupulous to pounce. As I watch those TV ads, I wonder how many people send in their money or otherwise fall victim to medical quackery. 


Years ago, I accompanied a friend to a hair loss “consultation”. He was awed by the trappings: white coat, scientific sounding terms, glossy pamphlets with patient testimonials. I was less impressed. What was in their product? They couldn’t tell me, it was secret. Where were their studies? They pointed to those patient testimonials. Did they have any published data? That wasn’t available yet. I was struck by the scientific babble, too. It sounded impressive, but it didn’t make any sense to me.


Today similar organizations offer invitation-only dinners at local establishments, followed by the opportunity to sign up for treatment that may cost you out of pocket because insurance won’t cover it. They have professional looking websites with quotes, supposedly from delighted customers, and perhaps a few references to publications doctors might call “throw away” journals, or to decades-old articles, or research that doesn’t actually involve the treatment at hand. There might be claims that the treatment is ancient, or brand new, or that “they” (usually doctors, the government, or Big Pharma) don’t want you to know about it. 


Legitimate medical treatments are not kept secret. They are presented to other professionals, for critique, evaluation, and replication. Researchers try to determine if a treatment might be effective only in certain situations, or more broadly. If it is promising, it becomes widely available, and insurance coverage often follows. 


Sadly, neuropathy, like many chronic pain conditions, has a variety of causes, and a variety of often less than satisfactory treatments. It is an easy target for “snake oil” salesmen. As always, talk to your doctor before you try something that sounds too good to be true. 

Comments are closed.

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Subscribe to Newsletter
Picture
PRAIRIE DOC® MEDIA IS A PART OF HEALING WORDS FOUNDATION.

Healing Words Foundation logo
FIND SCIENCE-BASED PEDIATRIC MEDICAL INFORMATION ON OUR SISTER SITE. 
Play Eat Sleep logo
  • Home
  • About
  • People
  • TV
  • Perspective
  • Donate
  • Friends/Sponsors of the Prairie Doc
  • Radio and Podcasts
  • Contact
  • Foundation
  • Prairie Doc Publishing