Are Patients Important?

This is still going on...

"Doctors still taking drug company freebies
Four out of five doctors surveyed said they let drug and device makers buy them food and drinks despite recent efforts to tighten ethics rules and avoid conflicts of interest.

The national survey also found that family doctors were more likely to meet with industry sales representatives, and that cardiologists were more likely to pocket fees than other specialists.

The study is the first to document the extent of the relationships between doctors and sales reps since 2002 when a leading industry group adopted voluntary guidelines discouraging companies from giving doctors gifts or tickets. In general, researchers found hardly anything had changed since previous studies a couple years earlier."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18311856/wid/11915773?GT1=9303

And...

"Posing as pals, drug reps sway doctors’ choices
CHICAGO - As much as doctors would like to deny it, subtle attention from friendly drug sales representatives can have a big impact on what drugs they prescribe, according to two U.S. studies published on Monday.

“Physicians underestimate their own vulnerability. They think they are smarter ... but they are not trained in recognizing this kind of manipulation,” said Adriane Fugh-Berman, a Georgetown University Medical Center researcher and co-author of one of the studies."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18279887/



Once a doctor prescribed medicine for my wife just because he got benefits from the drug company and she almost died because of it.

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When is this madness going to end? Are patients relevant at all, or the whole medicine industry is just another form of capitalism and consumerism? :splat:

 

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Just as likely that the Doctor prescribed the wrong medicine because they didn't diagnose correctly or weren't familiar with the various side-effects of the drug. Of course, even the best doctors can make mistakes and medicine is not an exact science.

But just like in every other occupation there are good doctors and bad doctors and doctors who are just out to make a buck. HMOs and other insurance structures make things far worse by putting limitations on expenditures for additional tests that can assist in making a correct diagnosis and controlling which doctors you can see.

My best advice, get a PPO and select your own doctors carefully. Also make sure to thoroughly educate yourself about any conditions you are getting treatment for and be fully aware of possible side-effects and interactions with any other pharmaceuticals or nutraceuticals you might be taking.

Worrying about the influence of pharmaceutical sales reps is a waste of time. All prescription drugs are FDA approved, if the doctor is prescribing the wrong one it's because the doctor is doing a bad job not because the sales rep took them to dinner.

~Raithere

 

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As a doctor, if two drugs are equal, I might use the drug from the company with the better rep. And in many cases, there are multiple drugs that are basically equal.

But I definitely won't use an inferior drug just because the rep gave me a cool pen or whatever.

 

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Of course patients are important. How else is the doctor going to pay for his luxuries.

 

I'd kill myself if I had to learn how to be a doctor. In fact, I want to kill myself right now for taking a freshman chemistry course. The class isn't bad... but the lab report sucks. They wanted no more than 5 pages of typed text in the report. I typed a full 8 pages today. Is biology easier?

 

Everything is easy if you are motivated.

 

Do my chemistry lab. I hate this shit. It's due in 6 hours.

 

I did chemistry when I was studying biology. I was a bit afraid of it because I sucked so much at chemistry in pre-university school. But all you need to do is to do your homework thoroughly. And allocate enough time.

Basically university courses are pretty much very thought out in the way that there are no obstacles other than the ones you make yourself.

 

So you trust the self-regulating department that also accepts bribery from pharmaceutical companies...? :bugeye:

 

No doctor is going to use a bad drug because the rep takes him out to dinner. But there are many drugs that basically equivalent. For those, the rep might make the difference.

I've seen plenty of drugs flop despite cool gifts from the reps because the drugs sucked.

No matter how good the food, I'm not prescribing a crappy drug. Us doctors enjoy the meal, and then use the drug we think is best for the patient.

 

Yeah... riiiiiiight!

 

Do you know how much a malpractice suit costs? No doctor is going to risk that by prescribing a substandard treatment over a free dinner.

 

My wife's doctor did. He knew she was too poor to afford justice.

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There are plenty of lawyers that work on a contingency basis. Hell, I think most of them do. If she has a case, she'll have no trouble finding a lawyer to take it.

And if her doctor gave the wrong treatment, I doubt it was due to the free dinner or pen he got from some drug rep. It was either a bad doctor or just bad luck. Even the best doctor occasionally has bad outcomes.

 

Why was your wife going to the doctor's, anyway?

 

Well first of all the pharmaceutical industry is anything but self-regulated. Unless it's fast-tracked drugs go through about 8 years of testing before they are able to get FDA approval. And that's after the pharmaceutical company has already developed and tested it on their own to the point where they believe they have something that is efficacious and safe enough to pass FDA approval. Doctors have review boards, state and federal departments, and our litigious society to answer to.

But to answer your question, yes. I don't see such sales tactics as problematic. As madanthony has pointed out the risk of malpractice vastly outweighs any incentives doctors might get from the pharmaceutical companies. No sane doctor is going risk their entire career by prescribing the wrong medication deliberately because a sales rep bought them a steak dinner or sent them tickets to the opera.

~Raithere

 

The FDA do accept testing from pharmaceutical companies. Did you know that?

 

Yes. And?

~Raithere

 

Ahhh... the tests are biased, did ya know? :bugeye:

 

They have to be, who else is gonna swallow crazy shit!