Med schools aim to avoid ethical ills

[flashl]

A national study released in October estimated that 60 percent of department heads at the nation's medical schools have relationships with industry, for such things as consulting, sitting on boards and giving speeches. The kinds of companies seeking relationships with medical school faculty include pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device firms, the study found.

The study's results, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, suggest that these contacts can influence doctors to use medical devices or prescribe drugs that are not necessarily the best available for patients, said the study's lead writer, Eric Campbell of Harvard Medical School. The author said the findings indicate "the need for their active disclosure and management."

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[MannyGoldstein]

1. 60%? No Way.

100%. Trust me on this one.

[misternormal]

2. Medicine became dangerous...

... to the public when it became a full blown business.

The days of a Doctor giving a hoot about anyone is gone.

If you don;t have the money to pay for the care, they'll give you an aspirin, hope you die before you can call them in the morning, and then send a bill for $200.00 to your surviving spouse.

[Mojorabbit]

3. The one I am married to

is not like that at all. He knows all his patients children and even their dogs names, makes house calls, and sees a lot of patients for free. We have even paid for xrays and lab work for some of them. You cannot paint with such a broad brush. It is like any profession. There are good and bad.

[hisownpetard]

4. The one I was married to started out with ideals (or so I thought), but then became obsessed

with making money, and that fixation effected everything he did.

There is no limit to the imagination of a drug rep when it comes to thinking up ways to reward the
doctor who's a heavy prescriber of the medicine the rep is pushing. Box seats at the theater, airplane tix,
meals paid for in advance at a favorite restaurant, flowers - even picking up the doctor's mother at the airport
and driving her around for a week, wherever she wants to go.

It really is revolting.

[Beausoir]

6. As you must know....those kinds of abuses are illegal. And really...your mom was

transported by a drug rep?

That's just silly. And I don't believe it.

[hisownpetard]

7. I know. That's one of the reasons I left him.

And, no, it wasn't my mother, it was his.
What don't you believe?

[Beausoir]

8. What company were the drug reps from?

[hisownpetard]

9. Merck.

[Mojorabbit]

10. We've never been offered

that kind of thing. The most a drug rep has ever done is buy the office pizza and give out pens. He does cultivate them though as he gives those drug samples out for those who have no money to buy the rx they need and there are a lot of people who cannot afford the meds they need. We really really need single payer universal health care in this country.

[hisownpetard]

19. We definitely do.

[sandnsea]

12. How do they know?

Do the pharmaceutical companies get records of who is prescribing their drugs?

[Mojorabbit]

16. yes.

Awful isn't it? but they are allowed to do it.

[sandnsea]

18. The pharmacies send the info? n/t

[knitter4democracy]

23. They give the drug companies their database files.

They know every doctor's prescribing habits, which ones he prescribes the most and the least, and then they tailor their drug reps' pitches to that. Hubby keeps getting reps for drugs he doesn't like, and that's because he doesn't prescribe them enough, so he goes and rounds at the hospital when he knows they're visiting the office.

[hisownpetard]

20. I'm not sure whether they get reports from the pharmacies or from the doctors themselves,

but drug reps get a print-out each month of which doctors prescribe what, and
how much, My ex was his biggest account (prescribing their drugs the most) and therefore
merited lots of attention from the drug rep (whose bonuses were based on how much his
doctor-clients prescribed the drugs they made). It's a terrible situation and really needs to
be stopped.

[knitter4democracy]

24. Pharmacies.

They're the ones with the database files.

[knitter4democracy]

22. Drug reps aren't allowed to do that anymore.

There's been a lot of cracking down recently. Heck, Hubby goes and rounds when he knows they'll be at the office just to avoid them. He hates them.

[hisownpetard]

29. I know that, and you know that, but all that rule has done is forced them to become more

creative and more devious. Of course, this can't be done unless the doctor is a willing participant
but, unfortunately, too many are willing to be complicit.

[knitter4democracy]

33. All I know is what I see, that's true.

Hubby doesn't play along, his practice doesn't, my doctor doesn't, her entire practice doesn't. I can't speak for all of the practices in town, though, since I'm not there checking.

[Greyhound]

14. Glad to hear that there are still good physicians practicing, but there are fewer every year

and since the insurance industry took over the profession and fostered the idea that a Doctor has a right to become a millionaire, fewer of the right people go into the profession.

[AnotherGreenWorld]

15. Sadly, greyhound, you've nailed it.

[knitter4democracy]

25. Funny. I know a lot of the right kind of doctors.

Most of the people Hubby went to med school with (well, the ones I met at parties and such) were good people. Definitely not in it for the money. In residency, there were only a couple of jerks--the rest were good doctors doing their best to get people better. I see one of them myself, first in residency and now in private practice.

[knitter4democracy]

21. Same here. My hubby's not like that, either.

He takes care of his patients and moves whatever mountains he can to do so.

[Beausoir]

5. Silly.

[AnotherGreenWorld]

11. That's been my experience. Doctors pretty much just want $$$,

but also want you to think they're great people and not in it for $$$.

[Cobalt-60]

13. My doc died in '82

I have never since spoken to a physician that didn't strike me as a greedy predator who would hurt me until I ran out of money and then forget my name.

[Mojorabbit]

17. Mine retired due to illness

and I have yet to find one that I click with. One thing I have learned is that there are not that many GPs in private practice anymore. So many docs out there are empoyees and their employers make them run an assembly line. I am looking for someone who is their own boss like my hubby and like my last doc was.

[knitter4democracy]

27. Whereabouts are you? I might know someone in your area that's good.

Some of Hubby's residency friends moved away. They might be near you.

[Mojorabbit]

32. I am in Orlando. n/t

[knitter4democracy]

34. Darn. I don't know anyone in that area for medicine.

I could ask Hubby, though. He might remember a classmate from med school down there. He has patients who are snow birds, so he might know of a good doctor they see.

[Cobalt-60]

39. Near Saint Louis

On the Illinois Side.

[knitter4democracy]

41. One of his med school buddies went there for residency, but he moved.

He and his wife, both doctors, aren't there anymore. Humph. I can't think of anyone else, sadly. Does the Physicians for a National Health Care plan publish a membership list?

[AnotherGreenWorld]

42. I've not only met doctors like that, I've had that happen to me.

More than one doctor, too.

[knitter4democracy]

26. Not in this house.

Hubby just wants better hours (not like that's going to happen, though). We're thankful for the money so we can pay off the med school loans and the credit card debt we ran up in med school and residency.

[AnotherGreenWorld]

37. :rollseyes:

:eyes:

[TZ]

30. Is my hematologist lying then when he says he will WRITE OFF

all my bills if I don't have insurance when I come for my regular check ups?
Not all docs are uncaring money making cusses.
I wish people would stop stereotyping doctors. I see several medical specialists and trust me, they actually DO care about my welfare

[knitter4democracy]

35. I had a pediatrician do that once, too.

She was upset about the hospital she worked for dropping SCHIP and therefore my daughter. We were moving soon, so she told me that any visits in the meantime she'd comp. Great doctor and caring person.

There really are good doctors out there. :)

[knitter4democracy]

28. The drug reps sure love the med students.

I remember one giving Hubby a really expensive book we couldn't afford for free once along with a new fancy backpack. He kept it (he needed the book), but he's been angry at them ever since. He doesn't like the bribes, and I hate them even more and remind him of that whenever he gets some solicitation in the mail for "consulting" or whatever.

[Beausoir]

31. My husband has never been "courted" by a drug rep. If he likes their products, he uses them.

If he doesn't..he doesn't.

At most, he gets a bag of pistachios at Christmas time from the reps.

It's a non-issue in his practice.

[knitter4democracy]

36. We don't get pistachios, we get cashews.

They're from the surgery group, though. We like them. :) They're the only surgery group in town, so I don't understand why they send out Christmas gifts, but there ya go.

[Beausoir]

38. Do you get homemade food gifts at Christmas? From patients?

My husband gets flooded with home-baked goodies, home-made Christmas ornaments, etc.

The only problem is....several times, the food gifts have been rotted.

The latest example was a State Fair Blue Ribbon blueberry jelly in October. We opened it and it was moldy and rotted.

It's so kind of people to make it....but I just can't eat it.

My husband gets homemade gumbo, homemade cakes on his birthday, pies, cookies.

All sorts of really thoughtful stuff.

[knitter4democracy]

40. Yes, it's really nice. It makes him feel weird, though.

He has patients who drop off goodies all year, and he always feels a bit odd about it. He feels he's just doing his job and doesn't need them to do anything extra--though he'll never turn down free food. ;) He's gotten day-old baked goods, but I can't think of anything that was moldy or icky.

I understand the need to thank a doctor specially, though. I made a pair of socks for my kidney surgeon to wear in surgery (nice and cushy) as a way to show him just how thankful I was at the amazing job he did.