Huge US medical bill

Mojisola

MiraculousM wrote: »

This is not uncommon at hospitals in the US when you go into the Emergency room. I found this out when i went when i needed antibiotics for the flu

No-one should be prescribing antibiotics for a viral infection!

MiraculousM

it was a bacterial infection that developed because of the flu but thanks for your input.

[Deleted User]

About six years ago I bought 500 Doxycycline after I walked into a Bangkok chemist with a chest infection.
It's a general all round antibiotic and I always take a few away on holiday just in case - my magic blue pills have come in useful a number of times,especially in remote places in SE Asia,with chums who've been feeling under the weather.
Anti-biotics are nothing to be afraid of - doctors dole them out like Smarties - and if you get a chance to pick some up for a good cash offer go for it.

agrinnall

Deleted_User wrote: »

About six years ago I bought 500 Doxycycline after I walked into a Bangkok chemist with a chest infection.
It's a general all round antibiotic and I always take a few away on holiday just in case - my magic blue pills have come in useful a number of times,especially in remote places in SE Asia,with chums who've been feeling under the weather.
Anti-biotics are nothing to be afraid of - doctors dole them out like Smarties - and if you get a chance to pick some up for a good cash offer go for it.

I'm not sure whether you're trolling or not, but this is a ridiculous thing to suggest.

The expiry date on doxycycline is relatively short and after that it loses it's efficacy, so your 6 year old pills are considerably less than magic by now, and might even be harmful (I can't vouch for the reliability of this thread but I certainly wouldn't be taking ancient doxy after reading it http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=566804).

Kathy535

Deleted_User wrote: »

About six years ago I bought 500 Doxycycline after I walked into a Bangkok chemist with a chest infection.
It's a general all round antibiotic and I always take a few away on holiday just in case - my magic blue pills have come in useful a number of times,especially in remote places in SE Asia,with chums who've been feeling under the weather.
Anti-biotics are nothing to be afraid of - doctors dole them out like Smarties - and if you get a chance to pick some up for a good cash offer go for it.

Doling antibiotics out like smarties is what has led to the antimicrobial resistance we are seeing now and risks antibiotics becoming ineffective. When you map antibiotic resistance geographically most incidences centre on Greece, where antibiotics are freely available without prescriptions. Giving them to people who are 'under the weather' means usage is not targeted and diseases become resistant. Imagine a world where an ingrown toenail or cat scratch can lead to death - that's what widespread antibiotic resistance will lead to (unless we develop new antibiotics, which so far we've failed to do).

Don't go getting antibiotics when you see a good price, most antibiotics are fairly narrow spectrum and for specific use and you'll be contributing to this really significant issue.

leylandsunaddict

Whether it was a pre existing condition or not, with the bill being that much, which granted isn't a lot for the US, your insurance policy would probably state that you have to get any treatment over £XXX authorised by them first. I'm guessing $1300 would exceed that limit.

doodle_bug

On my recent application for travel insurance for a trip to the USA there is a button on all the comparison websites to declare any pre existing conditions, UTI is certainly on there and is in the last 2 years. I had problems in that area towards the end of last year, the premium more than doubled by declaring it. I think the insurance companies want you to be neglectful about declaring medical history, they get your money and have a get out clause when you make a claim, I wouldn't consider going to the USA without insurance, this proves it, $1000 for some antibiotics, it could have been a lot worse, hospitalisation and it would have been 10's of thousands.

bigadaj

I'm reporting the thread title for trades description, to be accurate you'd have to be talking about six or probably seven figures.

Laz123

If I have the rare case of a urinary infection I drink cranberry juice until it clears up.

[Deleted User]

agrinnall wrote: »

I'm not sure whether you're trolling or not, but this is a ridiculous thing to suggest.

The expiry date on doxycycline is relatively short and after that it loses it's efficacy, so your 6 year old pills are considerably less than magic by now, and might even be harmful (I can't vouch for the reliability of this thread but I certainly wouldn't be taking ancient doxy after reading it http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=566804).

I see your online dope internet forum and raise it with a study from Harvard Medical School which says there is no harm in taking antibiotics in tablet form a decade after expiration date.
Most other drugs in tablet form are perfectly usable even 15 years later.
Oh and my kid brother is an orthopedic surgeon says it's nonsense too.
It's like taking a ten-year-old aspirin.Nothing has changed in it since the day it was made.
It's nonsense peddled by pharmaceutical companies and doctors who have a vested and financial interest in perpetuating the myth.




https://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/drug-expiration-dates-do-they-mean-anything&ved=0ahUKEwic0N_6-vjVAhXCZFAKHV4IBTsQFggwMAI&usg=AFQjCNHeM_zoYGDRrnyqAVfBu4M6krBgRw