Holy Crap! Prescription meds are EXPENSIVE!!!

by Elsewhere 34 Replies latest jw friends

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  chrissy

  Drug companies are nothing more than big businesses.

  The pharmas spend an incredible amount of bux on lobbying both politicians and doctors, as you say.

  you should see what the drug reps spend wooing the docs to prescribe their wares

  yes ,yes, and yes. Reminds me...when I went to the ENT doctor a few months ago to get my tonsils removed. She asked me if I experienced heartburn. I said, "no, never, but sometimes if I eat too fast I get a stomach ache." completely irrelevant to heartburn.

  She sent me on my way that day with a huge box of heartburn medicine samples, you know, the purple pill, and promised to write me a prescription upon return. but i told her i never get heartburn. ever.

  My old neighbor was a pharmaceutical salesman...It's been said these doctors get vacations and various 'prizes' out of pushing these prescriptions. I threw the samples away. I should have sent them to jschwehm.
• 

  Billygoat

  I used to work for a pharma company. Trust me, they are highly regulated in terms of how they can "entertain" their doctors in exchange for more drug sales. The company I came from (largest in US, now that they've merged) did NOT give doctors kick-backs while I worked for them. I worked in the oncology unit, so things were slightly different for us, because most doctors had to purchase the drugs themselves, the patient didn't go to the pharmacy. But still...FDA has MANY eyes on the drug companies, making sure they don't kick-back with the doctors in order to gain sales. (Even if the pharma companies don't think they're being watched - they're being watched!!!)

  A lot of it comes down to who the best sales rep is and how quickly/strongly he can establish a relationship with what doctor. You get paid in a bonus system nowadays, not commissions like it used to be.
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  littlerockguy

  Healthcare facilities have to abide by the anti-kickback law and since I work for a nonprofit medical group we cannot accepts gifts, however we can accept some other stuff like tons of post-it notes, pens, clocks, mouse pads, etc. as well as perishable stuff (food).
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  FlyingHighNow

  Here in the USA, doctors do not spend even half the time pharmacists do in school learning about medications and their uses and effects on disease, pain, etc. Doctors rely on drug company reps for the majority of info on meds, especially new ones. This was explained to me first by my friend who was a pharmacology major in college. I asked my pharmacist and doctors whether this is true and they all agreed that it is.

  Doctors are very busy, very, very busy people. They don't have a lot of time to constantly read and update themselves on all the new drugs.

  Drug companies are a racket. They shouldn't pass on the cost of their research to only US citizens, but they do.
• 

  lonelysheep

  When I first started working in pharma, a gentleman in the company told me "this industry is so overpaid, it's ridiculous".

  I'm not complaing since I plan to stay in. However, after starting that job, I realized why meds are cost too much here.