Just had a rather startling visit with a pharmaceutical rep. She laid it on pretty thick.

[Aristus]

She and I have visited before. And she's not the typical sales rep who drops brochures, shills her product, and then bounces. She is working very closely with primary care providers to help us get switched over from referring patients to gastroenterology for treatment of Hep C, to treatment at the primary care level. So she's got some game

Anyway, she breezed in, and instead of shaking my hand, took my hand from my side and held it for a while, squeezing it now and then. I'm wearing a lavender shirt with matching paisley tie under my lab coat. She remarked: "Oh my God, you look wonderful!" and ran her other hand all over my chest and tugged at my tie.

We got caught up on our transition to clinical Hep C treatment, then she left, saying: "I'll call you!"

I'm a little non-plussed about this, as you may imagine. She's certainly very attractive; like Nana Visitor from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Why the sudden use of the heavy artillery? She's knows I'm on for the program...

Weird...

[fleur-de-lisa]

1. She simply finds you irresistible, Aristus.

[Aristus]

2. Yeah, I get that a lot.

Just not from pharmaceutical reps...

[marylandblue]

3. Paisley ties drive women wild

[Aristus]

5. If only I'd known that in high school...

[fleur-de-lisa]

7. LOL!

[WheelWalker]

4. Simply Irresistible?

[Aristus]

8. I doubt I'm what Robert Palmer had in mind when he sang it, though...

[unblock]

6. Let us know when the real nana Visitor hits on you...

[Aristus]

9. Oh, I won't waste any time...

[sdfernando]

43. Meh...I though Jadzia Dax (Terry Ferrell) was way better looking. /nt

[unblock]

44. It's not a competition...

Because if it was, you have to admit the winner would be 7of9. Resistance is futile.

[sdfernando]

45. Well 7 of 9 was on Voyager not Deep Space 9...but I'm not saying you are wrong /NT

[Quemado]

56. Michelle Forbes was offered the role before Nana Visitor

but turned it down.

Our loss...

[unblock]

57. Ensign ro!

[ProfessorGAC]

68. She Was Great As Ro!

She fit right in, because she was just another character on STNG that i cared about.

[3catwoman3]

10. Weird, to say the least, and entirely...

...unprofessional.

[Aristus]

12. For my part, at least, I was too surprised to do anything but nod and say "uh-huh"

a couple of times. So I don't think anyone would fault me for anything.

[brush]

18. Careful. She might be buttering you up for something still to come.

[3catwoman3]

32. I realize that I have only "met" you...

...thru DU. In reading your posts about your job and how much you value your patients, I cannot imagine that you would ever comport yourself with anything less than 100% professionalism and dignity while on the job.

[Aristus]

34. Thank you.

That means a lot coming from someone I respect as much as you.

[TwistOneUp]

27. Yes, quite! nt

[demmiblue]

11. It sounds very unprofessional... you should make a complaint to the company. n/t

[Aristus]

13. We're meeting again tomorrow.

My MA Supervisor will be there, too. If all goes well, there shouldn't be any more of that.

[demmiblue]

14. Good. It seems she was trying to manipulate you for some reason.

Imagine if the genders were reversed. It is not acceptable either way.

[Aristus]

15. I can't imagine why.

This has been in the planning stages for over a year now. She knows I plan to implement the new protocol.

[marylandblue]

16. Needs you to buy more to make her sales quota? nt

[mitch96]

36. +1

[genxlib]

17. Don't take this the wrong way

But I find the entire industry a little inappropriate.

They certainly can serve a useful purpose to help educate and assist. But so often they seem to lean towards borderline bribery and manipulation.

Hell, even Big Bang Theory has started making fun of it.

One of my closest friends in the world is pretty high up in the pharmaceutical industry after starting as a rep 30 years ago. We don't talk about her job. I am afraid I would say something that would insult her.

Of course, in this case, it is simply because you are so charming and irresistible.

[Aristus]

20. Well, one of the reasons (among many!) why it surprised me is because she's never done it before.

It seemed out of character for her.

[genxlib]

21. Who knows

Maybe she has had a recent change in her availability.

It would be totally unprofessional but I would still respect honest flirting more than manipulation for more sales.

Wouldn't it be funny if she was on DU and read this thread?

[Aristus]

22. Not for her, maybe.

Not that I would have ever mentioned her by name.

[Bayard]

52. Its the drugs.

[Aristus]

53. One doesn't have to be stoned in order to find me attractive.

But I'm sure it helps...

[Laffy Kat]

19. The reps are not even allowed to enter the clinic where I work.

But I've worked at several private clinics where they were in and out all day. They brought us breakfast, lunch, and everything in between. We thanked them, ate what they gave us and rolled our eyes behind their backs.

[safeinOhio]

23. Russian Sparrow?

Good luck.

[Aristus]

24. I don't get the reference.

n/t

[Floyd R. Turbo]

25. Prior to retirement I had a big pharma client. I worked with a number of reps as a consultant.

Several of them were constantly self medicated/stoned out of their minds. One in particular bragged to my staff and me about the number of physicians she had screwed to secure business.

[Aristus]

26. Well, at least THAT'S not gonna happen...

She didn't seem to be , if you know what I mean. But who knows?

[Stuart G]

28. You never know what is going to happen, but.... who knows..

What evil lurks within the hearts of men?........The shadow knows!.............................

This is a reference to a 1940s radio show...The Shadow, doubt you have heard about it...but................
I am impressed by your reference to.....................Deep Space Nine...........

....................................................................... ........ ......... ........ ......... ...

ok...from Wikipedia:

On September 26, 1937, The Shadow radio drama, a new radio series based on the character as created by Gibson for the pulp magazine, premiered with the story "The Death House Rescue," in which The Shadow was characterized as having "the power to cloud men's minds so they cannot see him." As in the magazine stories, The Shadow was not given the literal ability to become invisible.

The introduction from The Shadow radio program "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!", spoken by actor Frank Readick Jr, has earned a place in the American idiom. These words were accompanied by an ominous laugh and a musical theme, Camille Saint-Saëns' Le Rouet d'Omphale ("Omphale's Spinning Wheel", composed in 1872). At the end of each episode The Shadow reminded listeners that, "The weed of crime bears bitter fruit! Crime does not pay...The Shadow knows!" (Some early episodes, however, used the alternate statement, "As you sow evil, so shall you reap evil! Crime does not pay...The Shadow knows!&quot

[Aristus]

30. Didn't William Conrad provide the voice the The Shadow for a while?

I grew up listening to old LP recordings from the classic radio shows. My mother loved them.

[Stuart G]

31. Not sure.....but maybe I can find out....another great reference..William Conrad..thank you

[marylandblue]

37. Just from regular doctor visits

I've noticed a high percentage of pharmaceutical sales reps are attractive, bubbly young women.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

38. And buff young guys!

[Aristus]

39. Well, I estimate she's in her mid-to-late 40's.

But attractive? Oh my goodness, yes...

[Stuart G]

29. oops.............I FORGOT SOMETHING VERY, VERY, IMPORTANT..!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oops..............most important of all.....yes, most important of all....

.....................Thank You for sharing the story with us.................

......Your stories bring a smile to me and many others.....YES, THANK YOU..

[Aristus]

33. Well, I like getting feedback from my fellow Loungers.

You see, unlike The Most Interesting Man In The World, I have awkward moments all the time. It's helpful to know what to do in those situations.

[Stuart G]

35. We all have that happen to us....Thanks Again..and..Here is a link to info on William Conrad

From a site called .........Radio Classics... found instantly on Google Search..plus a few paragraphs from the article... (partial quote, and there are many more there at link)..


http://www.radioclassics.com/william-conrad-the-voice-of-postwar-radio/
_______________________________________________________________________________________
By Elizabeth McLeod

Authoritative, resonant, and powerful. Sensitive, thoughtful and compassionate. Few actors of the radio era combined all these qualities so thoroughly as the man who, in many ways, encapsulates all that was most creative and most memorable about postwar radio drama. William Conrad seemed to be everywhere on the air in the fifteen years following the end of the Second World War. Even later, when radio was reduced to a shadow of its former self, William Conrad remained a booming voice in commercials and special features right up until the end of his own life. Even the most casual of “old time radio” enthusiasts knows his most famous role, the definitive western hero Matt Dillon. But William Conrad had a career far more varied, far more interesting, and far longer lived than even that legendary portrayal.

William Conrad was born to show business — but not, originally, as a performer. His parents owned and operated a movie house in Lexington, Kentucky, just across the river from Cincinnati. Conrad’s childhood was spent under the arc-lamp glow of its projectors. An avid movie buff, young Bill got his chance to see his film favorites up close when the family relocated to the Los Angeles area — and he spent his teens fixated on the idea of a career as a screen actor. But like many budding actors in the late 1930s, he found an easier entree into acting at the microphone.

[msongs]

40. sexual harrassment in the work place. women do it too. you've been stalked. report her nt

[Aristus]

41. I don't know that it rose to the level of either harrassment or stalking.

She didn't make any demands of me. She's never contacted me outside of the office. And she's not threatening me with anything in exchange for whatever.

[VMA131Marine]

42. Talk about overreacting ....

this would be overreacting. Maybe she just was having a really good day. If she does something similar the next time, or goes further, that would be the point to say "Hey, what's up? I'm not comfortable with this." Even if you are comfortable with it, you know that there is a huge potential for a conflict of interest that could get you both in trouble.

[cyclonefence]

46. I'm curious that her visit was about hepC treatment

On a recent visit with my PCP, he mentioned that he was getting pressure from pharmaceutical companies to get on board with testing baby boomers (like me) for hep C. He said that the survey didn't make any sense to him for a few reasons: it was a purely numerical study, with no identifiers, so that if a patient tests positive for hep C it wouldn't do the patient any good; patients my age who have hep C would have experienced symptoms before now and either died, had treatment, or been very ill. He just didn't understand the reason for the study. Is this what your rep was visiting you about? Could it be that they're having trouble getting docs to participate and decided to take it up a notch?

fwiw, I turned down the chance to be tested. I'm guessing the reason for the study--which is also being touted in tv ads for patients, btw--is to gather evidence for the need for a massive hep C treatment, and I bet pharma has just the drug for it.

[Aristus]

47. Routine testing for Hep C for all patients over 55 is part of what are called HEDIS measures.

Requirements we have to meet in order to maintain our federal funding. Now, there's every possibility that the pharmaceutical companies lobbied Congress to enact these measures. But there is a kernel of good common medical sense at the heart of it. Hepatitis C is a huge risk factor for liver cancer. It costs much less (however expensive it is currently) to treat a patient for Hepatitis C than to treat for liver cancer.

Also, Hep C is transmissible through IV drug use (shared needles) and also sexually (althought the sexual trasmissibility is pretty low, less than 1%.) So it is a public health issue.

[cyclonefence]

49. I get it

but I'm still suspicious, especially because of the expensive-looking tv ads aimed at people like me. Wouldn't someone, by the time he or she reached age 55, have some symptoms of hep C by that time? I'm all for anything that helps people avoid cancer, or discover it early, but I do question the sense of concentrating on these older folks. Do you encourage your older patients to be tested? Do you happen to know the age group (if there is one) where hep C is most prevalent?

I've been down on pharma ever since I worked for a psychiatrist who received a booklet in the mail about some drug; I leafed through it and found a $5 bill on page 7--the "reward" the pharma co. was giving doctors who actually read the material. For some reason, that infuriated me, and this was back in the 1970s, when you could actually buy something with $5. I looked through the rest of the booklet, and there were four more dollar bills between pages!

[Aristus]

50. I don't know if the pharmaceutical companies are still that blatant.

Especially since direct marketing to consumers (which started in the late 90's) does much the same thing.

We tend to treat living through the 1960's as its own risk factor for contracting Hep C. (Drug use and the Sexual Revolution - yeah, it's a stereotype, but we treat it as a risk factor...) And the early tests for the disease only confirmed exposure to the virus, not infection with it. The most common test measures antibodies to Hepatitis C, which confirms exposure. It's possible to clear the virus out of one's system before infection sets in. So nowadays, there's a separate test that measures Hep C RNA. If that one is positive, infection is confirmed without the need for liver biopsy.

Hep C can be asymptomatic for years, which often leads to resistance on the part of the at-risk patient to getting tested.

[TuxedoKat]

66. Interesting

I asked my MD about it recently and he didn't think testing was necessary in my case. He seemed to indicate that it was being over-hyped by the pharmaceutical companies.

[steve2470]

48. she may be under intense pressure by her boss to meet a quota

So she laid it on thick, unnecessarily.

If she's married or partnered, maybe she's going through a breakup ?

Keep up the good work

[awesomerwb1]

51. Sounds very unprofessional

Hope you called her already!!

[samnsara]

54. hey your outfit sounds like what my hubby wears under his lab coat.....

...hes got pastel shirts and Jerry Garcia ties

[Aristus]

55. We may have talked about this before.

I own six or seven Jerry Garcia ties. Love them.

This isn't one of them. It's a Calvin Klein.

[AJT]

58. Well, just don't do a Gary Hart and risk your career and reputation for ...

a "roll, roll, roll in za hay"....

[sl8]

59. Whew, this is going to be awkward.

Brother, sometimes good looking guys like us are going to attract female attention, sometimes even unwanted attention. If the female in question also sells drugs, that can make matters even worse.

You have to be firm. Let them know that "no" means "no"!

Also, speaking from personal experience, check your wallet. If an attractive woman is rubbing all over you and then takes off, you should definitely check your wallet. Probably should have mentioned that first.

[Aristus]

60. Good advice.

She never got near my wallet. It was in my desk drawer. Anyway, I think I’ll be safe for our meeting tomorrow. My MA supervisor will be there. Now he’s a handsome guy. Think Terrence Howard with a beard. He can take the pressure off of me.

[sl8]

61. What's an MA? n/t

[Aristus]

63. Medical Assistant.

They've largely replaced Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN) these days. They do patient intakes, vital signs, a lot of the administrative stuff; they're the backbone of clinical medicine. My job is easy; all I do is show up in the morning, look smart, and do what my MA's tell me to do.

I have an incredible team. Every single one of them volunteered to work at the homeless clinic. I don't want anyone on my staff who doesn't want to be there. Our patients deserve 100%.

[sl8]

65. Thanks. n/t

Last edited Fri Aug 17, 2018, 02:50 AM - Edit history (1)

[KentuckyWoman]

62. You won't find female Pharm reps with grey hair and support shoes.

Heavy artillery is right.

Decades ago I ran the office for Dr. Andy. I always enjoyed it when a new rep would show up teetering on ridiculous heels in a skirt barely long enough to cover the essentials, only to find out Dr. Andy is short for Andalusia.... who promptly referred her back to me.

[Aristus]

64. HA!

[MicaelS]

67. So post a selfie, and let us decide. n/t

[malthaussen]

69. She wanted to find out if you had a pulse? n/t

[patricia92243]

70. If you are single, she might have just found this out and would like to go out with you.

A tiny bit of flirting to let you know she is interested would be ok. But, it sounds like she WAY overdid it to the point of being unprofessional.

[Aristus]

71. I'm married.

I've got a wedding ring that looks like it could guide incoming air traffic. So I'm sure she has seen it at some point.

[patricia92243]

72. Then, she was way out-of-line. Glad you assistant will be with you at next meeting.

[Aristus]

73. I just posted the after-action review.

See for yourself...