On Fri, Feb 8, 2013 at 3:49 PM, Moose <olymoose@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> It's not just one or two drugs, and it's really pernicious. "Patients", as
> they would like to be, are going to doctors,
> demanding specific drugs, based on their own self diagnosis from ads
> and/or what their friends are getting. When a
> doctor refuses, they will just try another one, and often freely tell the
> first that's what they will do, in an attempt
> at coercion.
>
> And the ads all say "Ask your doctor if "Med X" is right for you." The
ads are definitely telling you that you should be telling your doc how to
practice medicine.
Same thing for the drugs that "fix" one thing, like asthma, but then have
58 potentially-fatal side effects ranging from uncontrollable diarrhea to
bleeding from the eyes to loss of one or more limbs. "Ask you doctor if
the benefits outweigh the risks". Or, we're going to go ahead and tell you
that this drug will probably cause you to explode. Now, go ahead and put
the risk on your doctor for prescribing it."
> > We (local we, don't know about national) used to have the same system
> with reps, but lots of places have put the squish on them. There's a big
> sign in my doctor's office about drug reps can leave their information, but
> they won't be seen. About the same time as the new policy went into effect,
> free samples started drying up. Go figure. <g.
>
> I wonder how much it helps, though, as the end run described above may
> replace the need for as many reps and perks to
> keep the drugs flowing. One might wonder how much of the price of drugs is
> creation, production and simple distribution,
> and what proportion is marketing and political donations.
>
>
I work at a hospital. I have noticed over the years that the pharm
companies all tailor the reps to the doc - if they're coming to see a male
doctor, the company rep is usually a smoking hot woman in high heels and a
really tight skirt. I've also seen the reverse - we have several female
docs here, and the drug reps are usually buff, good-looking men. It all
feels very sleazy.
Drug ads on TV just give me the creeps. And, seriously - if taking that
one sleep aid is going to make me see glow-in-the-dark butterflies in my
bedroom, I'll just take some more melatonin.
--
Paul Braun
Music Junkie
"Music washes from the soul the dust of everyday life." -- Harlan Howard
--
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