April 26, 2005
Pharma Culture
Were one sufficiently starved for entertainment to read my entire Pharmaceuticals category on this blog, and then go back to my writings on Berkeley Square Blog, you'd find a tireless and pedantic advocate of the pharmaceutical companies. I defend them and smite their opponents, be they politicians, lawyers, or journalists.
Give me my cred -- if I got money, you'd say I was in their pockets. Yet even I am disturbed at the prevalence of chemical solutions to life's vicissitudes (did somebody say "pedantic?") I don't doubt ADD is real but suspect it is highly over-diagnosed and over-prescribed.
My wife is in rehab for a stroke, and all the nurses are amazed that she is not on any regular medication. They think we're lying. "Every woman your age in here is at least on anti-depressants," we were told.
Last weekend's on call doc is a bright and professional woman who is very easy to talk to and very compassionate. But I have to relate two stories about her. She casually prescribed anti-depressants for my wife, based on "situational depression." The nurse described them to us as the doctor didn't even think it was important enough to discuss. These were non-narcotic, non-addictive, and they're not happy pills. You'd probably get off them in six months.
Wow. "Do you want those?" I ask. "No, I am pretty scared of that," she says. We decide to pass but know that these are on her chart and she can request them at any time.
The second story happened earlier, but I have withheld it for dramatic effect. This same doctor had a fit that my wife was drinking a smoothie I had brought in. "What's in this? Do the nurses know you brought this?" "I really suggest you stick to the dietician's plan! (of a lot of stuff she won't eat)."
So fruit juice is the devil's weed and should be considered seriously, but a half a year's anti-depressants are prescribed without patient input, request, or the suggestion of medical staff who have worked with her longer.
I guess I am naive. Am I nuts?
Pharmaceuticals Posted by jk at April 26, 2005 9:51 PM
No, you're nuts. ;)
You see, there wasn't anyone from Orange Julius buying your doctor dinner or taking her out for a round of golf.
I have no problem with a company advertising their products, but a lot of pharma-reps are little more than bribers, and some Doctors are willing to be shills for a perk or two.
Power and all that, ya know.
I don't go to doctors, except for extremis (or regular visits to pediatrician), and yet when I'm there, inevitably there's some jack-off (male or female) peddling their wares, aggressively.
Standing their like a pinhead for what could be hours waiting to "talk."
Some doctors even have weekly scheduled "take me out to dinner sessions".
Disgusting.
Makes used car salesmen and lawyers look upstanding.
But maybe I'm just embittered!
Posted by: AlexC at April 26, 2005 11:14 PMDon't ice it, man, tell us how you feel.
I cringe a little, because the evil Pharma reps you describe are employed in selling a legal product. If it works, doctors should know about it. In short, it's part of the ugly rough-and-tumble of the free market, is it not?
If you are going to have competition in the sector -- an unadulterated good -- you will have to make room for some Willy Lomans to distribute it.
Posted by: jk at April 27, 2005 11:44 AMI think what you experienced is a more general trend toward the "black box" treatment, or "experts know best." Contemporary consumers have little or no interest in the how, what, and why of the services they receive, be it medical care or an oil change. Hell, I even ASK repair shops to keep the old parts for me and they pitch them anyway. It's just not conceivable to them that someone would want to know what they did or why.
Why is this? I haven't pondered it deeply but in general I can say that knowledge is power. Insecure people don't go around sharing either of them without putting up a fight.
This must not be Riza's regular doctor. If so, it's time to get a new regular doctor - one who knows her patient at least tangentially.
Posted by: johngalt at April 27, 2005 3:37 PM | What do you think? [3]