My father has had COPD for about 15 years now. As the son, I've relied on my mother to do primary care as she takes care of him. I worry though that she is not given the best advice and that bad habits creep in during the day to day life of my dad. So, I feel like I need to step in and take a more active role.
For years now, my dad has been losing weight and refusing to eat and seemingly given up. He still goes to rehab but he's getting skeletal.
For example, I recently learned that he has been taking Xanax for anti-anxiety and I learned that Xanax is actually bad for COPD.
MY point is, what kind of doctor would prescribe this in the first place? Why wouldn't a primary care doctor realize that weight loss and lack of motivation be a sign of depression and work on that instead of letting him fade away? Should I be concerned that my parents are getting bad advice?