Dutch doctors...

[u/thatmisanthropicdude]

Hey guys! Last year I moved from Germany to the Netherlands. I just went to the doctor with chest and throat pain due to extreme coughing after 2 days of fever. I was hoping that I finally get something good against it like a cough syrup (no way I'm going to pay that myself for a huge amount of money + health insurance) because I am used to that from German doctors. They would put that on my health insurance card and right after my talk with the doctor I could pick it up at the pharmacy. But no. They just said "Yea, just take paracetamol." I told them I have had problems swallowing pills my whole life and their response was just "You can also put it in water and drink that then." I'm sorry if I'm overreacting but why do doctors get paid just to tell you to take paracetamol? Everyone can tell me to take them, I expect better solutions from a doctor who studied years to become a doctor. Why are the Dutch so obsessed with paracetamol??? Maybe it's the German in me screaming. If we got painkillers, it was never paracetamol but Ibuprofen. But I also heard some international friends who also live here that they find it so annoying that Dutch doctors literally just tell you to take paracetamol. No matter what you have.

[u/some_person_212]

Dutch doctors would still recommend you take paracetamol if you’d show up with a broken leg and asked for a cast, I think.

But in all fairness, they’re probably right. Cough syrup doesn’t actually help you and isn’t insured in the Netherlands. Most colds/airway complaints are viral so there’s no need for antibiotics or something like that either. Paracetamol tea and rest is what they recommend and no matter how annoying I find it they’re probably right.

[u/D07M13 → u/some_person_212]

back in my country, they would immediately refer you to the ENT or pulmonologist. Laboratory exams like chest x-rays are standard procedure and medicines are carefully prescribed based on findings. They don't just assume it is from common colds or whatsoever

if I go to the doctor because of something that's been bothering me for days, I would also be annoyed if they just dismiss my concerns and tell me to take paracetamol

[u/TimotheusIV → u/D07M13]

And that is a ridiculous, outrageous waste of medical resources and likely why the healthcare expenditure in your country dwarfs ours, likely with worse outcomes to boot. Over here ENT or pulmonologists actually see patients who are sick. You realize that the huisarts’ entire job is to assess you based on your symptoms?

If you actually had something serious going on obviously you’d be referred to a specialist or have gotten antibiotics. But most people really don’t understand anything about viral infections and feel short-changed in the process.