#8 -Healthcare and Comm Technologies

The path that communication technology and health care are currently riding is, honestly, one that I have less traveled. I can only imagine the endless misleading medical information a person can access on the Internet, so I tend to not embark on that journey because I'm not that familiar with it. I usually rely on the two medical professionals in my family if there is something wrong with me or my son. My wife on the other hand, is a self-proclaimed Doogie Howser M.D. She is constantly relying on information she gathers from the Internet for diagnosing everybody. How reliable the information is doesn't seem to matter, just as long as something makes sense and sounds like it might work. While I was in the military, I had medical appointments almost every other month. Not that something was wrong, but just because I had to stay combat ready if the time came for me to go to the Middle East or elsewhere; which the time came multiple times. I never really had to think about my health because I felt in great shape and healthy. Also, if anything was wrong with me there would be a medical professional that would tell me what was wrong and what I needed to do to fix. Now my wife and her side of the family have medical conditions that keep doctor bills constantly coming in they should name part of the Norton clinic "Taylor Wing"! My wife has also told me about different applications that she can get on her phone that relates to medical do-dads but I think that they're just more stuff to clutter up phones. I don't know what it is that makes people think that they can self-diagnose themselves concerning health matters. I guess I can point the finger at one of the worst things I see in our society concerning health and communication technology and the is the ever so annoying and misleading medical/prescription ads on television. I wish there was a regulation to put an end to these ads. They all ask dumbass questions that the average person is unqualified to answer, even if they are talking about themselves. Or they ask questions that can relate to just about everyone. Questions like: "Are you depressed, urinating constantly, anxious, tired, flaccid, unfocused, hyper, too fat, too skinny, yadda yadda yadda". It goes on and on while they flash products in our face thinking that it can fix us but yet they mention side-effects that are worse that the diagnosis. Side-effects such as blindness, kidney failure, heart attack, stroke, and even DEATH! What the hell can someone have that is bad enough that they would want to try something that could kill them. I'm sorry but I think that I will stick with being a little too much of a neat-freak than risk my life. And when these ads do first come out, they are usually followed a couple months later with a legal ad asking if anyone that was affected/hurt by a product to call a number so that you can get a settlement. What is wrong with this country? ---> Let me get back on track here. So health care and comm technology. I think this is a case of too many choices for people that do not have the intellect to make these choices. Or it can be that some doctors are just trying to get as many people as they can on medication as possible because that is how they make their money, especially psychiatrists. Repeat visits to refill prescriptions for people that don't need them. Doctors are now in the business of "legal" drug dealing. And this drug dealing business will continue to dominate our society with the help of communication technology.