On December 30, Brenda CHALLINGSWORTH posted a message asking for help about
SINEMET CR. My answer was :
"I also had a bumpy first experience with SINEMET, but I am quite reluctant to
give you any kind of advice, because I think the responsibility and the risk
have to be taken by a doctor.
Doctors may be wrong, or away for vacations, but medical diagnosis and
prescription are part of their job. PD patients or caregivers, cannot take
into account such things as side effects, interaction between drugs, etc..."
Other answers came up in the following days, talking freely and openly about
doctors, medical treatment, giving advice based on personal experience. I was
quite surprised, if not shocked, until I found out an explanation : there must
be a cultural difference between two groups of countries, one including the US
and another one including France, about the way we look at the doctor-patient
relationship. You seem to have a priori limited confidence in your doctors,
while we have a lot of a priori respect for ours.
I am not trying to guess which is right or wrong : the truth is probably
somewhere betwen the two extremes. Doctors are neither sorcerers nor
charlatans. They know PD in general, and they cannot know my PD as well as I
do. I know a lot about my PD, but I cannot know PD in general as well as
doctors.
Since 85% of the subscribers to this list are American, I will apply the
proverb "in Rome, do as Romans do" and do my best to help other subscribers.
By the way, there is another cultural difference between USA and France. You
seem to look up at your lawyers as we look up at our doctors, and vice-versa.
Should we consider posting some sort of individual or collective disclaimer ?
I do hope I am not frustrating nor irritating anyone, and if I do, I apologize
in advance
Bernard JOLY
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