Self-care

« Headstone in plague park. It may be interesting to note that Presso had an article a few months ago about how the plague victims were not actually buried in the park, rather more towards Hietalahti. The name stuck, however factually incorrect it may be. There is some memorial text for the plague victims on the arched entrance which likely perpetuated the name. »

For the nerds who care, CPAN turned 10 years old yesterday. A decade is like a millenium in internet time. I'm still looking around for and begging weak individuals to volunteer for rebuilding the doc/ tree on the archive since it once was, and should be again, the non-module heart of the archive. Enquire within if the idea interests you at all. I also made a variation on the logo that will remain for the year which, though I'm no graphic artist, is hopefully not too horrible. Yes, we lead an exciting life.

Maybe it's the weather that finally got cold to remind us that winter has arrived; maybe it's the recipe I tried on Sunday, against my better judgement, that flopped and has put me off baking this week; maybe it's the systems at work that are driving me mad (if anyone has a spare trebuchet or tesla coil...); maybe it's the incessant news about humankind's impending demise at the hand of birds; maybe it's my cranky lower back that has kept me sleep deprived for a few weeks now, but I feel pretty grumpy.

Of course, there's nothing like a bunch of cute puppies dressed up for halloween, a.k.a. the great pupkin to cheer you up a little. I admit that I have a soft spot for pugs, especially since the giant dogs neither look as cute in nor put up with costumes their puny humans dress them in.

But even puppies can't quell my urge to rant about a burr I've had up my ass since I moved here which is that you have to go to the apteekki for everything deemed 'self-care' which includes products as humble as band-aids and aspirin. Jarkko doesn't understand why it makes me so irate that buying the most basic of products requires a trip to a separate store that isn't conveniently located anywhere near my grocery store. From what I understand, it's a tightly regulated industry that ensures that there will not be too many pharmacies clumped together so that they won't be in direct competition with one another. The basic products like aspirin and band-aids are also restricted to being sold in their shops because, unlike prescription drugs whose prices are kept reasonable by the state, the OTC products are not and so can be more profitable. So, if I'm understanding how this works correctly, it's an anti-competitive government program for the pharmacies that makes them money by keeping prices high on products that would otherwise be much cheaper (and more convenient to purchase) were they to be sold at any local grocery or kioski and marketed to the consumers as protecting them from themselves. That's some serious magic mojo.

She (Tuula Haatainen, Minister of Social Affairs and Health) said there were too many adverse factors to introduce other self-care drugs into supermarkets.

But nicotine replacement products are a different matter altogether, the minister feels.

"As one can sell health-damaging tobacco, it is advisable to sell the "antidote" too," she was quoted as saying in the paper.

Now, what blows my mind is that people seem to swallow this argument and not question the reasoning and motivation behind selling nicotine patches at the grocery but not aspirin on the grounds that it's too dangerous. Uh, wha? I come from the land of incredible bullshit spewing politicians and I dunno, but my bullshit sensor just went to 12. Perhaps this is another defining difference between Yank and Finn as the Finns are innured of going to the pharmacy for all that ails them and the Yanks are wondering where in the hell the band-aids and aspirin are in the supermarket. My guess is that the price on the patches are regulated and thus not a money maker for the apteekki.

What about other products like tampons or ear swabs? Both are 'self-care' products and both are potentially dangerous given toxic shock syndrome and perforation of the ear drum. I mean, what's so dangerous about band-aids and neosporin folks? Afraid Gran is going to try to off herself by suffocating herself with petroleum goo and adhesive strips? For a country that claims to be top in education, maybe educating citizens in how to apply a band-aid safely and which OTC meds not to take when drinking and/or drunk could be part of the "self-care" curriculum.

In spite of this not being all that important given bird flu pandemics, global natural disasters and other happy news, I really hope some elected official looks into the practise and calls the state on this stupid racket so that the next time I manage to flay a finger with a cheese slicer Jarkko won't have to walk the 6-8 blocks to the nearest apteekki just to get band-aids.

.....and later....

Someone very nice wrote to me and pointed out that band-aids are available in stores which, I swear, neither Jarkko nor I have ever noticed in our local shops downtown. I'm going to have to go look for them just to see, but either way, the example might not have been a good one due to our probable inability to find bandages and makes my rant seem a bit foolish. But, pick any random 'self-care' product like eye drops, antibiotic wound ointment, preparation H, etc., that doesn't require a prescription and is not available outside of the apteeki.

The person who wrote also pointed out that the system does work well for the purpose of maintaining selection and distribution throughout the country, including the more remote areas. I hadn't considered that, as it is an important feature, but I wasn't suggesting that the apteekis not be allowed to sell OTC products, just that many of them should be more conveniently located which shouldn't pose a threat to the remote apteekis supply or demand or to the health of the public at large.

I also don't think I explained the reason why the statement above is rather ludicrous. As a chemist, and a smoker, I keep forgetting that most folks aren't familiar with the more entertaining and dark side of science. The nicotine patch is not an 'antidote' as claimed, rather a less noxious and more socially acceptable form of a highly addictive and extremely toxic drug/poison. You might not know that nicotine is often used in pesticides or that an infant/toddler/small child could die from eating a cigarette or butt due to nicotine toxicity. It doesn't happen very often but, the fact remains that nicotine, on the grand scale of things, especially when compared to aspirin and butt cream, is a heavyweight substance that eventually leads to the death of all who use it. Deaths from aspirin and prep-H are, at least when both are applied according to the directions, not going to kill you. I doubt that anyone who smokes or drinks has the illusion that they are improving their health. The minister and whomever else thinks that the reasoning behind OTC products being sold in shops where no one asks you 20 questions upon purchasing 10 tubes of 'roid cream and 3 bottles of aspirin as opposed to cigarettes still being legal and sold alongside the patch in convenience stores is a sound public health policy probably has financial reasons for thinking this way as the facts about the substances do not match their logic or lack thereof. Over the counter drugs and products are named as such because they have proven safe to use, even for idiots, over a long span of time and the risks involved are minimal.

All the Finns I asked about this had only a fuzzy sense of how the apteekki system functions and admit that it seems draconian, but most seem open and interested in the idea of the OTC products being sold in more convenient stores like supermarkets.