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Drug Companies and their 'ethics'


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I am sitting here looking at:

 

A large container of Biscotti

A massive container of peppermints

A ceramic jar, aproximately a foot tall, filled with food

A container with about 150 jolly ranchers

A Godiva Chocolate ceramic gift

3 bottles of HUGE louisiana hot sauce

A 24 pack of pop secret pop corn

Almost a gallon of mixed nuts

A 50 pack variety pack from Frito-Lay

 

 

And a gift bag full of about 50 pens, notepads and several 'gifts' from this rep.

 

I'm going to be honest here. I'm so f*cking sick and tired of this sh*t that I could scream.

 

It's from the drug company Novartis. They put out popular meds such as Lamisil and Elidel. Meds that are not cheap, mind you.

 

Lamisil promotes their medication with the little funkmeister, Digger. He's the little nasty f*ck tat pulls up the toenail on the commercials - in case you care.

 

Yesterday, I deposited a check for $1,000.00 from them to my doctor. They pay him massive amounts to do stupid stuff. They are flying him to Boston next week. They bought our office lunch yesterday. They do that often.

 

He is supposedly one of the biggest writers of this script our side of the region. Who cares?

 

They asked him to work in the 'Digger'mobile last week for like $100.00 an hour. :rolleyes:

 

I'm so pissed. I want to report them to the BBB. They charge a fortune for prescriptions and I can see why now. There's supposed to be some law from them doing this kind of crap. It's illegal.

 

If I report them, I'll have to give my name. Should I write into the company anonymously? Or should I just be pissed and let it go???

 

I know not all drug companies do this. But just incase you guys are wondering why you're paying so much for your scripts......come see me. My office is full of food. It'll wash away your pain. :rolleyes:

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laRubiaBonita

that is what itell my mother~ she is a nurse manager and gets the goods too.

 

i always have thought the makers of Oxycotin should give away Sleep Number Beds!

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non of this is illegal. it may not be right but who are we to say? my dad the doc gets this krap all the time....fully paid golf trips to Hawaii, all sort of presents, etc...

 

it is just big business. relax TIKI and enjoy the chow!

 

oh yeah, and send some watermellon jolly ranchers my way :laugh:

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He's the little nasty f*ck tat pulls up the toenail on the commercials

 

ewwwwwww :sick::sick::sick::sick::sick:

 

 

unfortunately, drug companies are no better than paid political lobbyists: they pander and 'ho themselves to get what they want. IF that is the way it is, why can't the "pay" in practical goods? gift certificates to nice restaurants FOR THE STAFF? Home Depot or Lowe's cards? Free Viagra? a month's supply of quality toilet paper or paper towels? :)

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laRubiaBonita

AND~ it is not usually the patient writing The scripts, it is your doctor that got his vaction in hawaii paid for and the nurses that get paid lunches and cool gadgets.

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I don't know why I'm so mad. I've worked in the medical field for ten years, I'm used to this crap.

 

I think because all of a sudden, this rep comes from out of nowhere and drops all this crap off. They put it in my office because I've got the most room, and everyone lingers around a table we refer to as the 'food table'.

 

But I'm looking at all this crap, thinking, this is soooo wrong. She said that she was trying to make up for lost time or some crap. We've got like 5 Novartis reps....is there REALLY a need for that???

 

Alpha...thanks. You made me laugh. Although I'm positive there's some law against the bribing and giving of goods which can fall into the 'illegal' category. I've even heard the reps speak of this 'law'. It's only been out in recent years. I looked on the Novartis website and cannot find it...I'm sure they don't advertise it often. :p

 

If I can non-chalantly find out the name of the law, I'll let you guys know.

 

But the Business Manager (the docs wife) knows I'm pissed....and she even was like, "Good God, this is ridiculous". When he went for his last triathalon, they provided him with an assload of food to take with him on his trip. TACKY.

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Originally posted by tiki

Although I'm positive there's some law against the bribing and giving of goods which can fall into the 'illegal' category.

there is....if you give someone something such as money or goods to do something illegal then it is a bribe.

 

a drug company giving gifts or trips to medical people so they'll prescribe their medication is not considered a bribe. it is business.

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laRubiaBonita
Originally posted by alphamale

 

there is....if you give someone something such as money or goods to do something illegal then it is a bribe.

 

a drug company giving gifts or trips to medical people so they'll prescribe their medication is not considered a bribe. it is business.

Is it like one of those time-share gimmiks? where the doc get this great vacation, but is supposed to sign up for some "seminar" gig? Is that how they do it? :confused:

 

But they prob. do not really care if the docs go to this "seminar" anyways.

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I think it's called Stark's Law. I'm gonna do some research on it.

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Originally posted by laRubiaBonita

where the doc get this great vacation, but is supposed to sign up for some "seminar" gig? Is that how they do it? :confused:

yes, they fly them out to some nice resort and the docs spend an hour or two each morning in some dopey class learning about some drug the company is offering or some new medical procedure, whatever.

 

then they spend the rest of the day hob-nobbing with girls in bikinis, playing golf and eating caviar. :laugh:

 

the docs don't pay a red cent and the drug co. writes it off as a marketing expense. so everyone is happy happy happy!

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laRubiaBonita

Damn It! :mad:

 

:rolleyes: I knew Protology was the way to go........ although i do have a private practice! ;)

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About a year ago, a number of Italian doctors (and several Glaxosmithkline employees) faced criminal charges for participating in this cosy little back-scratching exercise. They believed that acceptance of non cash gifts such as holidays and luxury items was acceptable business practice and did not constitute being bribed. They were wrong.

 

These dubious marketing ploys of big pharmaceuticals have gone on since time immemorial, but Europe is cracking down - which makes it that little bit harder for the US government to carry on letting the big drugs players do whatever the hell they like. Didn't the authorities in Pennsylvania not start a big investigation into this sort of practice fairly recently?

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Originally posted by lindya

These dubious marketing ploys of big pharmaceuticals have gone on since time immemorial,

Well LINDYA, you must remember that here in the U.S. drug companies were not allowed to market prescriptioin drugs direct to the general public until fairly recently. Before the recent advent of direct mktg to consumers in both print and TV the only way these big drug companies could mkt was direct to the Doctors and pharmacist. THat was how they created demand for their drugs, by getting Drs. to prescribe them more and more.

 

Now they can mkt direct to consumers. Now may dad says that patients come in to see him and they already know what drug they want to be on but he is the one who has to decide if it is indicated and then give them an Rx.

 

That is a bit of history into this situation. Hope it helps LINDYA.

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That is a bit of history into this situation. Hope it helps LINDYA.

 

Thanks for educating me on that point Alphamale ;)

 

I don't think the all's-fair-in-love-and-business argument cuts it when it comes to the medical professions. Doctors inhabit a fairly unique position of trust in society, and they've got a clear primary duty of care towards the patient. If any practitioner is prescribing a particular medication NOT because it is the best or most cost-effective (to the patient) form of treatment, but because there's a kickback in it for him/her, then it's difficult to see how that is anything other than an abuse of trust. I'm disturbed that so many people in the medical profession consider this to be an acceptable practice.

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Yeah, this is just wrong. Wonder if this is allowed in Canada??? Could that be why their scripts are so much cheaper.

 

What also burns my tail is when I make an appt for my sick child to see the doctor or need to see one myself and I'm sitting there waiting. Here comes two or three drug company reps and in they go to see the dr. Then I'm stuck sitting their waiting for them to finish sucking the doctors butt so I can get in for my appt. That's enough to make you want to go postal!

 

Some doctors- my old gyno who is deceased now- had certain times they had to visit when he wasn't seeing patients. That is the way to do it!

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I know his recent flick was made about pharmaceutical companies...anyone heard anything? I wonder when it's coming out...I should check his site. I wonder if they touch on this in the movie...I bet he does.

 

Originally posted by Mz. Pixie

Yeah, this is just wrong. Wonder if this is allowed in Canada??? Could that be why their scripts are so much cheaper.

 

Good ques....I wonder if a Canadian here could answer that?

 

Originally posted by Mz. Pixie

What also burns my tail is when I make an appt for my sick child to see the doctor or need to see one myself and I'm sitting there waiting. Here comes two or three drug company reps and in they go to see the dr. Then I'm stuck sitting their waiting for them to finish sucking the doctors butt so I can get in for my appt. That's enough to make you want to go postal!

 

Complain to the Business Manager or the Doctor....because that's not cool.

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Hey what's the problem? This is good old fashioned American business at it's best! Besides if it were so wrong wouldn't the government do something about it? :laugh:

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I was wondering when you'd rear your head. :D

 

Originally posted by Craig

Besides if it were so wrong wouldn't the government do something about it?

 

Yes, they would. It's Stark Law and Anti-kickback. You know this. :p

 

Here's a link to the law. It's part of the Social Security Act.

 

http://www.netreach.net/~wmanning/fasumm.htm

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Originally posted by tiki

I was wondering when you'd rear your head. :D

 

quote:Originally posted by Craig

Besides if it were so wrong wouldn't the government do something about it?

 

Yes, they would. It's Stark Law and Anti-kickback. You know this. :p

 

Here's a link to the law. It's part of the Social Security Act.

 

http://www.netreach.net/~wmanning/fasumm.htm

And an entire industry has evolved to assist those individuals subject to this law to legally avoid, bypass or circumvent the regulations through the use of safe harbors (loopholes.)

 

Your doctor receiving massive amounts of money (AKA cash) to do stupid stuff is more than likely quite legal (which doesn't make it right by the way). The regulations are written by people. People always leave loopholes for themselves and their friends--that's just the way things work. Smart people take advantage of legal loopholes because to do otherwise would be bad for the bottom line. :)

 

Doctors don't get paid by practicing good medicine they get paid when they see patients (kind of like hookers that way) and if the patient isn't happy the doctor loses patients (money). So what is a doctor to do? Do they take advantage of all the perks, prescribe the latest fad drug and make money or do they do what is best for the patient? :D

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Originally posted by Craig

So what is a doctor to do?

 

Well.....optimally... :D ....he could say "Uhhhh, no thanks. Take that money that you just spent on me and lower the cost of your meds how bout it?"

 

......Like it????

 

I must've been PMSing yesterday. Today I'm not as mad. Or maybe I'm just more hungry and like the food options. :p

 

M. Moore's movie is coming out in 2006. It's called 'Sicko' from what I gathered. I can't wait to see it.

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Originally posted by tiki

Well.....optimally... :D ....he could say "Uhhhh, no thanks. Take that money that you just spent on me and lower the cost of your meds how bout it?"

 

......Like it????

Sure I can see every doctor doing that and while their at it handing their patient a brochure to Kanapali in Hawaii and saying with the money you save now you can go here. Be sure to get room 122 because it's right on the pool and just a short walk to the outdoor massage overlooking the Pacific. Now that I'm saving you money I can't afford to go there myself. :laugh:

 

The only thing we can depend upon is human nature. :lmao:

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:D Okay, okay. I've filled my belly with chocolates and cannot believe it's lunchtime already. Bad me!!! I shouldn't have indulged in their CRAP.
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