Page 58 - Sonoma County Gazette March 2017

Medicine By Media?
What new idiocy is raining down on unsuspecting souls who just want to watch a favorite TV show – not have an on-air doctor’s visit? Medical advice by paid broadcast advertising media, that’s what!
Senior Ballroom Dance ~ Finley Community Center 2060 West College Ave, Santa Rosa. 707-543-3737 1-4p. $8 Admission. 1-4p
Mar 3 ~ Steve Luther
Mar 10 ~ Tom Shader Trio
Mar 17 ~ Manny Gutierrez - St. Patrick’s Day Dance
Mar 24 ~ Carl Green
Mar 31~ Larry Broderick Trio
By Date
thru Jan 17 ~ Wednesdays at The Hospice House - Free Community Education. Food for your Mind, Body and Spirit. Hospice of Petaluma 416 Payran Street Petaluma 707-778-6242 Memorial Hospice 439 College Ave. Santa Rosa, 707-568-1094
Mar 15 ~ Is Cannabis Right for You?
Everything from bizarre, simplistic solutions to sweeping medical advisories are now available to us on TV commercial breaks. Disguised as pseudo counseling sessions, viewers are encouraged to nag their real medical professionals for remedies recommended by actors and pharmaceutical “providers” promising miracles. They further advise that you not forget to tell your doctor about all your existing conditions including a possible allergic reaction to the item they are hawking! (HUH? Doesn’t “your doctor” know all that?)
Presentation by Mitcho Thompson of Peace in Medicine. Get your questions answered by a professional. Display of the various forms of cannabis and covers various e ects, to how to get your doctor's letter of recommendation. $3- $4 3-4p Sebastopol Senior Center 167 N. High St. Sebastopol
Considering that most of the stuff isn’t available without an Rx from a real doctor anyway, these “promotions” are absolutely hilarious when viewed in perspective. Even as I write, in the background on my TV, I am hearing amazing claims that conclude with the usual litany of risks and reactions ranging from a simple headache all the way to death! Indeed, it’s enough to scare you to death.
The best of these arrogances is the attempt to empower us to advise our doctors, practitioners, and specialists concerning what and how they should be advising us! Do vulnerable viewers among us notice that the cart is pushing the horse?
Thru - April 13 ~ AARP Tax Service
If the ironies were not so shamefully dangerous, it would be amusing. Deliberately and recklessly transposing patient as medication advisor to their medical professional is risky business. Participating fully in one’s medical care and solutions is healthy, advisable and certainly crucial; and I think it’s good to push back with your medical advisors and hold them accountable to explain and defend their choices for you. However, competing with your medical professional is quite another matter!
Franklin Park Clubhouse, 2095 Franklin Ave, Santa Rosa Mon-Thurs 9a - 3p, Free 707-490-4025
Mar 2,9,16,23 ~ Senior Santa Rosa Folk Dancers Class - Willowside Hall, 5299 Hall Rd., Santa Rosa. 1:00-3:00p Telephone contact 707-546-546
Mar 6 ~ Taking Control of Your Driving Future - Rosemary Robles, shows how to maintain your driving privileges, options for a limited license, transportation alternatives, how to take and pass the license renewal test, and safe driving tips. 10-11:30a Village Network of Petaluma 402 Petaluma Blvd. North, Petaluma (at Oak St. and the car wash). RSVP to info@petalumavillagenetwork. org or 707-776-6055
Mar 8 thru Apr 26 ~ Foundations of Acting II at NextAct Senior Theater- Clark Houston Lewis-Class is suitable for both beginners experienced. Worried about memorizing? It isn't required. Have some mobility problems? They can be accommodated. 10 -noon, Rose Cottage, Church of the Oaks, 185 Page Street, Cotati. Register: nextactseniortheater@ gmail.com
Mar 15 ~ Legal Consultations for Seniors and Family Members 1/2 hr. consultations. Covers advance health care directives, planning for incapacity, conservatorship, estate planning, wills and trusts, probate & more Free - 10a-11:30a - 707-303-1530.
Mar 17 ~ St. Patrick's Day Corned Beef & Cabbage Feed - Hoist up your knickers, grab your fella or mot for dinner and dancing. Take away food available for $25 per plate (while it lasts). 5:30 -10p Sebastopol Community Cultural Center 390 Morris St. Sebastopol 707-829-2440 sebastopolseniorcenter.org
Some viewers may perceive a blurred line and may even begin to doubt their real physician. (Gee, why hasn’t my doctor given me that wonderful stuff?) This phenomenon is in the snake oil promotions category, in my opinion. Medicine by media is a lot like relationships by Internet: enough detachment to absolve responsibility; no accountability, no foul!
58 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 3/17
Mar 16 ~ Welcome to the Village - An information meeting for adults 50+ and their family members to learn more about the innovative Village concept of “friends helping friends” to continue living vibrant, active, and connected lives in our own homes as we age. 11 am. Village Network of Petaluma 402 Petaluma Blvd. North, Petaluma info@ petalumavillagenetwork.org or 707-776- 6055
Think about those strange portrayals of people in the prime of life yet in dire need of treatments for ailments ordinarily associated with much older “patients!” Who selects those models? (A personal favorite is the dreamy-eyed couple in matching bathtubs overlooking an ocean vista...having just ingested the magic pill! Your tub or mine?)
Mar 23 ~ Spring Fling - The Rotary Club
Common sense and what was sometimes called “covered wagon medicine,” is something oldsters can relate to nicely. Not only were miracle medicines, drugs, advanced therapies and unbelievable surgeries things of a distant future, supportive communication and transportation was also limited. Many, many times, self-help and common sense were all one had available to make do.
of Sebastopol Sunrise is joining with the Senior Center host our annual Spring Fling. Food, music and fun for all. It is free to the public. Info:: seniorcenter.ab@ gmail.com. Free-4-6p Sebastopol Area Senior Center 167 N. High St. Seb.
Mar 24 ~ LGBT Senior Welcome Reception - A second year of local programs to support lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) seniors, the LGBT Seniors Outreach Project. First Welcome Reception is: 2-4p Finley Person Senior Wing Auditorium, 2060 W. College Avenue, Santa Rosa. Info:City of Santa Rosa Recreation and Parks Department at (707) 543-3737.
I truly believe that these TV pharmaceutical promoters think we are a bunch of numbskulls. Apparently, these presentations – often delivered in muted, seductive voice-overs – are designed to motivate us to motivate our doctors! (Considering the cost of such advertising, they must be successful.)
Mar 28 ~ Santa Rosa LGBTQI Seniors
I don’t think I’m alone in noticing the irresponsible part of this issue. It takes advantage of what the average person may not know (or know how to interpret) about the dark side of these products. Rather, they try to gloss it over in rosy dramatizations, and encourage folks to possibly doubt their own trusted personal medical relationships.
Last Tues of every month 1-3p Glaser Center, 547 Mendocino Ave. Santa Rosa
Think more than twice, and remember that tired old adage: If it seems too good to be true it probably is!
Where should the lines be drawn in matters such as this? Romanticizing and promoting highly potent products (involving questionable effects and very serious risks) seems borderline in terms of conscience and integrity in advertising.
Trouble can develop between doctor and patient when a patient applies pressure concerning claims they have heard in a TV ad about a product their doctor may believe is a wrong choice for their patient.