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Melissa S's avatar

Doctors don’t have to think anymore. They just need to be able to dispense pharmaceutical drugs. Most get frequent visits from the pharmaceutical representatives who supply them with their big Pharma literature. So doctors don’t have to research squat. Just read the promotional literature. And they are helped by all the advertising by Pharma as in, “Ask your doctor if “xyz” is right for you.” Patients come in asking for the drugs they saw on tv. And they generally get what they want. After all, the drug was approved by the FDA, which wouldn’t approve anything if it weren’t “safe & effective”.

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Donna in MO's avatar

I spent the better part of 6 months caring for my 84 YO mom, hospital, NH for rehab, home. She HAS to have the TV on from the minute she wakes up until she goes to sleep, 'for noise'. I am fully convinced if pharma ads were outlawed half of the TV channels would go out of business. One pharma ad after another! So annoying.

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Melissa S's avatar

Totally agree! My father-in-law was the same way. He had to have the news on non-stop. Very stressing in my opinion.

Here is a suggestion we have implemented that might work for your mom. Try to get her to switch the tv noise for music. We got an mp3 music player for an elderly family member with some dementia, and she enjoys it a lot. It is very simple to use. Just a couple buttons. You preload it with music they enjoy. 16GB Simple Music MP3 Player for People with Dementia Patients Alzheimers Easy Music Box for Elderly Seniors https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08D3LJQG2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

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Fla Mom's avatar

A bonus is the amazing effect on people from hearing well-loved music from their younger days.

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Donna in MO's avatar

Oh I have tried. She actually doesn't watch the news much now that her favorite person to hate, Donald Trump, is not in office any more. She watches the local morning news then the Hallmark Channel, or something on PBS or Golden Girl re-runs. She has a pretty extensive CD collection, that was mostly my dads but they both used to listen to them when he was alive. She has the old school, push one button CD player in her AL apartment, and my sisters and I also bought her a portable DVD player she could put on her lap (eyesight is fading some due to macular degeneration) to watch copies of old home movies and such that my sister had converted to digital, and has a number of series and classic movies on DVD we've bought her over the years as she said she was interested. NADA. Unless the cable goes out. Then she will consider alternatives. It was out for 3 days when she moved into her current AL apartment, maintenance, IT, no one could figure it out. They finally decided it was her TV, but couldn't reboot it as someone had put a PW on it when they set it up but my nephew who had originally set it up had no idea what it was. Told me to go buy her a new TV. Right NOW! She was literally losing her mind, like regressing back to a toddler, after we got her moved in and unpacked, she kept calling me saying I HAVE to have my TV! Mentally, she is still sharp, works crossword puzzles and the puzzle section of the newspaper, that she reads cover to cover so not dementia. And I ordered her several mag subscriptions, like Sat Evening Post. So she is not necessarily just watching TV all day. It just has to be on. I blame covid. She used to be fairly active but after a year + of self quarantining she is left with little physical strength and little interest in getting out and doing stuff. Constant fear of falling. So she sits and channel surfs. PT comes a few times a week and gets her moving but anything I say or suggest either starts a fight or gets a host of the same tired excuses. Sorry, venting. I stayed with her a lot when she was still at home and it wore me out. Glad she is in a place where help is a button push away. My sisters (who are on either coasts) think this is all about 'getting back at me' for 'making her' move to AL and why she refuses any suggestion I have. She did agree to the move, but still keeps saying how she misses her old place.

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Reasonable Horses's avatar

Excellent idea. Music-streaming services are great if you keep the mute button handy. Spotify and Pandora are loaded with pharma ads and promos for borrowing money to get out of debt.

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Leo's avatar

Try music from the years when she was in her prime - oldies. Also beautiful picture books she can view while listening to her music.

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INGRID C DURDEN's avatar

has been going on for a long time. as a kid the house doc would prescribe nothing but pfizer, ruined my immune system by unnecessary antibiotics, and then they did not work when needed, luckily a pulmonary doc got me back on track, hardly been sick since. this was 50+ years ago

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GG's avatar

That's a very circular way of thinking.

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