Henry came down like a wolf on the fold, and the asbestoasters abandoned their imagined stronghold. The sheen of his spear made lesser men flee, Fraser Hell-Raiser, a wonder to see.
It was great! Finally, a voice of authority, honoris causa, burying one of our most persistent myths. Former Senator Lindsay Bolden was brave enough to say it, this writer has always maintained it, but Henry Fraser nailed it in style.
Fibres from asbestos lagging in factories and such cause severe health problems. That is well known.
But I suspect the white world controllers got greedy: “Asbestos roof sheets are weatherproof, cool, and last forever. They are harmless. Why not spread a rumour that they too cause cancer?
“Think of the millions we could make replacing roofs, selling inferior sheets which need changing every few years . . . .”
And officialdom swallowed it hook, line and sinker. Asbestos sheets, which I spent endless boy-days sawing with dull implements to make rabbit pens, are now handled as if more hazardous than Fuku nuclear waste.
A prominent local contractor confided that from his research asbestos roofing is safe, but there is too much money out there in roof replacement for him to say anything.
Mind you, Fraser’s disclosure won’t change a pang. Officialdom doesn’t back down. But it’s a start in the right direction. And it sure warms the cockles and other intimate parts of this writer’s anatomy.
But now that he’s loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword, why not implore the goodly doctor to march on other fronts, bringing truth to doubtful health areas which confront a contrite citizenry?
Is aluminium cookware to be avoided? Does broad-leaf thyme “cut down one’s speed” as men fear? Is it coincidence that non-pork-eating peoples seem much given to war, while pork-eaters like my brother-in-law Paddy would do anything for peace?
How safe are products like “R. . D. . . . . Enlargement Formula – one dose lasts five days”, which wives pester us to try? Or “Max Width” and “Mr Thick”?
Sad to say, the alternative medicine folk are leaving the straight docs in the starting blocks. Spin your radio dial at any time and you’re likely to hear some dude extolling the virtues of Mozzy Bush (Clitoria dulcissima).
The Healthy Herbs lady’s “lettuce, a sleep, sex enhancer” has a wide following. And her silent doctors are saying a lot more.
Onward then to battle go, Frase! A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. We patients have lots of knowledge from the Internet. We’re confused and you people aren’t addressing our concerns.
A Sunday Brass Tacks doctor seemed to imply that patients checking the side effects of medicines (and possibly not taking them) does more harm than good. If the blood pressure medicine she prescribes could harm the patient’s liver, she will monitor his liver.
All well and good. But our livers aren’t all that visible. And every time a doctor monitors some part of my anatomy, the bill is at least $800.
Besides, all of us have had, or know of those who have had, bad experiences. Many years ago a now deceased doctor prescribed me penicillin tablets.
I swelled up like a balloon and broke out in sores. Whereupon he let on that, had he given me an injection, I’d probably be dead.
Many tell of way more hair-raising experiences.
It is not good enough. If I buy a switch from Simpson’s Motors, they call a few days later to ask if I was satisfied with the product and enjoyed my shopping experience.
Doctors are prescribing thousands of dollars in drugs but there seems very little follow-up on whether they are taken or work. Nor are they monitoring side effects.
A doctor recently put me on a drug which lists among its possible side effects every disastrous condition known to man, except possibly marriage.
The one that concerns me most is “impotence”. Shouldn’t a sweet sexy nurse be checking me every few days? After all, in two shakes all would be revealed.
There are holes in our knowledge, dear Henry, dear Henry. We need you writing some more.
Happy birthday to the mother-in-law! April 1!
