Or, I go to a doctor, who is a medically trained professional, and they prescribe a medicine to me based on their experience and training, without any incentive for financial reward?
I could be deregistered if I was found to be accepting anything (travel, hotels, conferences) and not declaring it
What industry do you work in where those at the top of the companies aren’t maximizing their ROI and profit seeking? That COVID shot in your arm ID from the scientists that worked feverishly to invent it, and should be celebrated like the ones that solves medical mysteries across all different disease classes. R&D is not free period.
Why not have the government subsidize medical costs, why punish the inventor who have huge R&D overhead? The corruption you talk about starts and ends with the government.
I was invited once, by another doctor, to speak (paid gig, curtin closer) at a conference being put on by a pharmaceutical company. It was on digital health and the company I think may have had an interest in anaesthetic drugs or supplies or possibly it was surgical - (I’ve just trawled my records and without spending an hour or more I don’t think I’m going to find it) either way there were lots of Anesthetists and surgeons there, mostly because for only $100 they could knock off 20 CPD points by coming and listening to something half interesting in a nice venue for a while and get a meal and catch up with each other.
I had to fill out pages of forms with the company to get paid, firmly renounce that I would be promoting any drug or product, resolve to declare my affiliation with them for a minimum of 12 months, etc etc (this was in around 2018).
The company’s logo was on the pull out banners and the projection screens obviously but there wasn’t even a hint of drug or product anywhere in the room. No tote bag, just some mints and the pad and pen.
The ethical bar has been raised so high that medical companies are now reduced to running paid conferences on adjacencies that clinicians may possibly be interested in, that align with their college’s professional development goals, and can’t even mention their products!
So why do they even do it anymore? I pondered this as I filled out my forms - I believe it is due to residual infrastructure and marketing apparatus and budgets from the days when they could offer the world. Now they’re like vestigial organs, floundering to maintain purpose but knowing that a KPI is eyeballs on logos
The kicker is, if it was anaesthetics, there are only probably 2 makers of sevofluorane in the world anyway!
Whatever pill the doctor writes me up, I always end up asking the apothecary or looking up online the cheapest substitute. This is how the elderly here cope, they can barely pay bills, let alone choose which pills to skip. I've personally not had any problems with big pharma substitutes so far.
One issue, that could excuse medical companies going directly to the patients would be a lack of knowledge among doctors. Doctors contently write prescriptions for medication that's no longer available and is often not as updated as a pharmacy on new medication. This means that at least some doctors aren't suggesting the best treatment, simply because they aren't aware of it.
People just assume a lot about the world.
1. Zero ads for prescription medication anywhere 2. Medical card for everyone on low income covering everything 3. Never pay more than EUR114/month for prescriptions, no matter how much you medication you need or your income.
I've never had doctors pushing any kind of medication on me or my family.
You're a glass half full type of person, to put it in polite terms.
I could rant all day about media and health in Ireland. Specially from a migrant perspective but it's not really the place.
What is undeniable is that Ireland ranks amongst the worst in Europe and it's very much for profit. It's just Irish people don't know any better and they look at the wrong place (USA) and only at the money aspect, not the quality.
Quality wise, I'd much rather be in USA than Ireland because treatment here is terrible in many cases and there's always a sea of excuses and bureocracy.
Except when they do get financial rewards?
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/02/health/insys-trial-verdic...