American patients are facing such enormous healthcare costs that they are turning towards veterinary medicine. At least 27 million Americans have no access to healthcare and that 25% of them who are on prescription medicine struggle to afford it.
Thus, some are turning to fish antibiotics because it can be purchased without a prescription online and are relatively inexpensive because they are designed to be antibacterial drugs for pet fish. Research reveals that a small but significant percentage of consumers online have reviewed the fish antibiotics for human use.
This is problematic because the human consumption of fish antibiotics without health care oversight may lead to increased antimicrobial resistance and that appropriate treatment is delayed. Without proper dosage information, patients may also overdose on fish antibiotics and wind up being more ill than they started out.
Read the full article on The Guardian: Americans take fish antibiotics because it’s cheaper than a visit to the doctor
Analysis:
The problem with American patients taking fish antibiotics is symptomatic of the larger issue of a broken healthcare system. Faced with healthcare insurance costs which are skyrocketing and healthcare coverage which is shrinking, there are many who are excluded from the healthcare system.
Those who are not protected for their healthcare needs are then forced to find solutions on the black market or through alternative means like turning to the veterinary medicine. Even if these alternative solutions work for the individual cases, it leads to dangerous consequences collectively if not for the patients trying out these desperate measures.
Thus, even if we regulated the sale of fish antibiotics, the pressing needs of those who are excluded from the healthcare system will drive this same segment of the population to try different ways to obtain the care that they need. How, then, do we address the healthcare issue in the US?
Questions for further personal evaluation:
- Should the US government clamp down on fish antibiotics sellers who avail their products to those who use it for human consumption? Can they? Why or why not?
- What factors would lead Singaporeans to consider ingesting veterinary medicine? What would make you want to consider taking veterinary medicine?
Useful vocabulary:
- ‘anecdotal’: based on personal accounts rather than facts or research
- ‘prohibitively’: in a way that forbids or prevents something