The basic problem is that most doctors get a general education rather than a specific one. For example, I have found that I can get much better care from a chiropractor who has spent two to four years specifically studying spines, muscles, and joints, than from a surgeon who has generally studied human biology for eight to ten years. Human beings are very complex after all. But everyone gets a bad rap from the medical profession, everyone from the physical therapist who spurns drugs in favor of a massage and exercise to the chemotherapy patient who smokes marajuana to keep from puking. The problem being that doctors pay their academic dues for a long long time and then they make really really a lot of money. And those who have already gone through the hell of medical school and interning, well, they want their sacrifices to pay off. But don’t you worry. The Clinton administration is going to change all that. I mean, doctors make a bunch of money and they vote, so nobody is going to be breaking up the medical guild. But soon you will get to pay higher taxes to pay for that healthcare whether or not you can afford it. What a deal, huh?

By the way, most pet stores sell tetracycline for fish. It will be marked as a cure for tail rot and will bear the clear don’t-prosecute-me legend “NOT INTENDED FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION”, but it is exactly the same stuff people take for acne and clamydia. Except that it is cheaper and does not require a prescription. Too bad they don’t sell cat diazapam the same way, but at least now you know why you never get that green filmy stuff on your butt. Once you skin clears up, you may feel like getting out of bed and doing something. What you could do is write or draw for BLT. Next time is the SF & Fantasy issue. Deadline is July 21, 1993. Submissions should be short, funny, and antisocial. Thanks.