Live Blogging From Messina IT: Inappropriate Use of Antihypertensive Medications and Berlusconi Tells Earthquake Victims to ‘Enjoy Camping’

I previously wrote in my book about the story of my Sicilian mother-in-law who was put on the alpha adrenergic blocker drug Cardura (doxasosin) for hypertension in spite of the fact that in the NIH-sponsored ALLHAT study over a decade ago the group that was taking the alpha blockers was stopped early because the risk of death was increased compared to the group that was taking a diuretic and a beta blocker, and the group taking calcium channel blockers and angiotension converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. It really irks me when physicians do not use evidence based medicine but just use whatever they are used to. The logic might be that it has been useful in lowering blood pressure in their other patients, and they don’t know or care what effect it has on heart attacks, strokes, and mortality, which is what the rest of us little guys care about.

Don’t get me started on my father-in-law, who is becoming increasingly deaf at the age of 89, and who isn’t as perky as he used to be, and who ‘stopped working’, therefore his Italian physician has brilliantly put him several different psychotropic medications for a “pochino depression”.

Is that in the DSM? Should that be under consideration for the DSM Shadow Team?

Anyhoo now my brother-in-law has now been prescribed Cardura for high blood pressure (what is it with these Italian physicians and Cardura? They must be giving out some really great pens or maybe something even better. Hmmm…). He told his physician about what I had written about Cardura and his physician’s response was:

Those American physicians make a lot of mistakes.

Humph.

Another news item from Italy this week is related to the earthquake that flattened much of the city of Aquila and the region of Molise. BTW thanks guys who were asking about me. The Italians fearless leader, Silvio Berlusconi, after seeing the 28,000 people who were living in tents, made the brilliant comment:

They should try and enjoy themselves and pretend they are camping.

This from the guy who made a former topless model and “showgirl” a member of his cabinet, a woman he said he would marry instantly if he wasn’t already married. Which led to his wife demanding a public apology in one of his newspapers. Which he gave. Oh, he also said Obama had a “sun tan”.

Silvio Berlusconi relaxing with cabinet member Mara Carfagna

I swear I am not making this stuff up.

The interesting thing about his ‘camping’ comment is that although this idiotic comment made the front page of the London Times, there was not one word in the Italian papers. Maybe that is because he owns all three major TV networks and had influence over the newspapers and other media outlets as well. You know how Jon Stewart likes to lampoon government leaders? The last comedian to make fun of Berlusconi on TV ended her show with “see you next week… maybe.” That was back in 2003 and we haven’t seen her since. Berlusconi’s government replied that the Times should have written about how the earthquake victims clapped for Berlusconi. Maybe we should get Sarah Palin to clap into the microphone with them.

Anyhoo since presumably the majority of Italians voted for this clown (three times??), and since he is right wing presumably a majority of physicians, who are they to say that we make ‘alot of mistakes’?