• GlaxoSmithKline to End Payments to Doctors for Drug Promotion.
    13 replies, posted
[QUOTE][QUOTE][IMG]http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/BN-AJ067_GLAXO1_D_20131112053654.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE]GlaxoSmithKline PLC's curbing of payments to doctors is a sign of a shift in health care: The once cozy relationship between pharmaceutical companies and physicians is cooling. Greater scrutiny from governments and regulators, mounting doctor irritation at hard-charging drug companies and the waning influence doctors have over prescribing are all driving a wedge between companies and the physicians they've long courted. Source: [URL]http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304858104579263640414302348[/URL][/QUOTE]
Thank fucking god. My dad's doctor was charging him around $150 every 2 weeks for heart medication because the doctor was being paid the prescribe the absolutely most expensive medication possible. Ass hole could have been giving him a medicine that only cost like $30 a month.
[QUOTE=Trunk Monkay;43220643]Thank fucking god. My dad's doctor was charging him around $150 every 2 weeks for heart medication because the doctor was being paid the prescribe the absolutely most expensive medication possible. Ass hole could have been giving him a medicine that only cost like $30 a month.[/QUOTE] So he couldn't simply put his foot down and demand the cheaper but perfectly fine and documented copy medicine alternative since the doctor simply refused to because [i]"lods of emone"[/i] ?
[QUOTE=O Cheerios O;43221683]So he couldn't simply put his foot down and demand the cheaper but perfectly fine and documented copy medicine alternative since the doctor simply refused to because [I]"lods of emone"[/I] ?[/QUOTE] The doctor basically said "Here, take this until you either die of a heart attack or don't". My brother in law whose a pharmacist was able to get him on some cheaper meds, my father just wasn't aware there was an alternative.
My mom's doctor charges the pharmaceutical reps the normal rate for seeing him which is $200 plus they have to wait til after all the patients are seen. I think it's kinda funny.
[QUOTE=Trunk Monkay;43221857]The doctor basically said "Here, take this until you either die of a heart attack or don't". My brother in law whose a pharmacist was able to get him on some cheaper meds, my father just wasn't aware there was an alternative.[/QUOTE] Guess I should be happy that where I am, both the doctors [B]AND[/B] pharmacists are downright legally required to suggest the cheapest but still valid medicine to patients. Especially since the copy medicine is often 25 times cheaper than the original brand-name product, while basically containing the same compound in it.
It has been illegal for drug companies to sponsor doctors in Australia for a long long time, but that hasn't stopped things like funded travel to conventions and other assorted goodies for doctors from them. Doubt it will stop just because GSK say they will stop. [QUOTE=Trunk Monkay;43220643]Thank fucking god. My dad's doctor was charging him around $150 every 2 weeks for heart medication because the doctor was being paid the prescribe the absolutely most expensive medication possible. Ass hole could have been giving him a medicine that only cost like $30 a month.[/QUOTE] I kinda see it as the pharmacists job to offer up the generic alternatives when picking up the prescription. That said, I don't know how the process works in the US. It might not be possible there to switch to a generic brand if the brand name is written on the prescription itself.
[QUOTE=DogGunn;43222005]I kinda see it as the pharmacists job to offer up the generic alternatives when picking up the prescription. That said, I don't know how the process works in the US. It might not be possible there to switch to a generic brand if the brand name is written on the prescription itself.[/QUOTE] The pharmacy I go to has a sign that says everything filled will be generic unless you or your doctor says it has to be brand name. I think that has to do with how many people on medicaid go there.
[QUOTE=O Cheerios O;43221959]Guess I should be happy that where I am, both the doctors [B]AND[/B] pharmacists are downright legally required to suggest the cheapest but still valid medicine to patients. Especially since the copy medicine is often 25 times cheaper than the original brand-name product, while basically containing the same compound in it.[/QUOTE] Yeah, a doctor who did that here would be taken before the GMC and have his license to practise either suspended or removed.
I still find it shocking in this day and age we have to put the words price and profit into the same category as saving peoples lives.
[QUOTE=O Cheerios O;43221683]So he couldn't simply put his foot down and demand the cheaper but perfectly fine and documented copy medicine alternative since the doctor simply refused to because [i]"lods of emone"[/i] ?[/QUOTE] Most people don't have the knowledge, skills or frankly the time to realise, think about or deal with situations like this. It's not easily researched when there can (I imagine) be subtleties between the different medications that [I]could[/I] signify more complex reasoning behind a doctor's seemingly profit-driven or arbitrary decisions.
Glaxosmithkline are notorious for this kind of thing, here in the UK my mum works for a district healthcare company and Glaxosmithkline payed for things like training venues for the company so the higher ups in the company would choose to use they're product, which ofcourse...is the most expensive.
[QUOTE=O Cheerios O;43221959]Guess I should be happy that where I am, both the doctors [B]AND[/B] pharmacists are downright legally required to suggest the cheapest but still valid medicine to patients. Especially since the copy medicine is often 25 times cheaper than the original brand-name product, while basically containing the same compound in it.[/QUOTE] I'm not sure about the legalities of it here, but my doctor prescribes the cheapest. She'll suggest more expensive varieties if the more expensive varieties are generally more effective (or more appropriate for the specific nature of the condition) but she wouldn't push you to spend a whole lot of dosh on stuff you don't need. The whole privatised, insurance-driven system that the US has baffles me. Running hospitals like businesses is just a rubbish idea
[QUOTE=Maloof?;43222357]I'm not sure about the legalities of it here, but my doctor prescribes the cheapest. She'll suggest more expensive varieties if the more expensive varieties are generally more effective (or more appropriate for the specific nature of the condition) but she wouldn't push you to spend a whole lot of dosh on stuff you don't need. [/QUOTE] dont forget about the subsidising, $5 for a prescription youll never finish.
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