Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Old News: Still Sucks

Laws like these have been getting pitched around a lot lately, mostly in the wake of the Plan B "controversy" perpetuated by people who think they have more right to control what goes on in a woman's uterus than individual women do. And if they can't pass laws making contraception, abortions, or premarital sex illegal, then by God, they're at least going to try to shame everyone on the face of the earth into submission.

And by "everyone on the face of the earth" I mean Americans. Who else is there? I suppose there are those outside-the-box thinkers that are willing to look at the problems of Africa.

Here's what bothers me. It's not that the bill is being discussed, because that's old news. It's not the reality-blind moral paternalism that's associated with these issues. It's the fact that the Indiana Pharmacist's Association is supporting the bill. The priorities of the IPA are clear. They really are the Indiana Pharmacist's Association, because they definitely don't represent patients.

This whole issue hinges on the idea that a pharmacist's sense of moral culpability is going to cause emotional damage to a pharmacist forced to dispense "objectionable products" against their will. That's totally more important than the emotional and financial culpability of an unwanted child. That's what you get for fooling around, I suppose. There's your lesson. There are people--and more frighteningly, health care professionals--who think you deserve to be punished for having sex.

Incoming ad hominem: I am not one bit hesitant to say that those people are inhuman monsters. I suppose it's not really an ad hominem. I'm not saying they're wrong because they're monsters. I'm saying they're monsters after the fact. Move along, no logical fallacies here.

You know, type II diabetes is typically caused by insulin precipitated by obesity. Obesity is commonly caused by overeating, and gluttony is a sin. I think I'm going to stop dispensing metformin, glipizide, Actos, Januvia, Byetta, and every other medication used to treat type II diabetes, because clearly, type II diabetics did it to themselves. They know the risks of unhealthy diets and lack of exercise. They're to blame if they didn't listen. I'll still dispense insulin, though, but only to type I diabetics who can provide the results of lab testing proving that their condition is genetic or autoimmune. Those people are being challenged in the strength of their faith by god, which is why they were created with terrible birth defects.

And no more cholesterol-lowering drugs, either. We all know that diets high in cholesterol are unhealthy, and the most prominent sources of cholesterol in the diet are animal products. The use of animals for food is unethical. If everyone were vegan, we wouldn't need Lipitor. The patients who die of heart attacks due to atherosclerotic occlusions are totally responsible for their own undoing.

I would say something about antidepressants in mockery of Scientology, but that ship has sailed, and they launched it themselves. I hope they didn't waste good champagne.

Come on, people. We've been through the Jehovah's witness scenario a dozen times. Is a JW physician allowed to refuse to give blood transfusions because he believes he's endangering the patient's immortal soul? Don't become a medical professional if you aren't willing to do your job.

No comments: