How Drug Companies Attempt to Brainwash Your Family Doctor
The Star: Drug Companies Wine and Dine Family Physicians
Not that any family doctor wants or expects to become corrupted. But don’t be surprised when you’re offered a life-long prescription of dubious benefit after a 5-minute consultation with your doctor. It’s just how the system works. Advertising works.
I’ve been to many, many of these lunches and dinners myself during the last 16 years. Eventually they started to leave such a foul taste in my mouth that I stopped going. Except for once in a while to study the method and the shameless bias.
I feel that drug companies should not be allowed to do any sort of “education” of doctors, ever. It’s seriously less like education and more like brainwashing. Doctors who can’t see it are doubly deceived, unfortunately.
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This is an important topic. I'm glad you brought it up. Most doctors feel (like I once did) that industry funded "education" is innocuous. As doctors, we feel we are too smart to be conned by Pharma marketing. But their tactics must be working or else they wouldn't spend so lavishly on on fancy dinners and shmoozing. The sales people recruit local respected doctors to act as Key Opinion Leaders. So if the great Dr. so-and-so likes Drug X, Drug X must be good. Right? The industry says it doesn't dictate the content of the speeches to it's speakers. They are free to speak their minds. Perhaps that's true. But, the speaker knows that they won't be asked to speak again should they say something disparaging against the sponsored product.
https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov
https://projects.propublica.org/docdollars/
http://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Medicines-Organised-Crime-Healthcare/dp/...
by Peter Gotzsche, a former industry employee, MD, and the director of the Nordic Cochrane Reviews. The system is far worse than you can imagine.
I would also recommend: "On The Take: How Medicine's Complicity with Big Business Can Endanger Your Health by Jerome P. Kassirer, M.D. Another former editor of NEJM, Dr. Kassirer opens the door to the corruption in the health care business today. The conflicts of interest are rampant and the unsuspecting patient goes into his/her doctors office fully believing that their doctor has only the patient's best interest at heart. That is not always true. That is why my mantra is: "Question Everything!!"
I offer one more suggestion in this genre of books: Dr. John Abramson's book, " Overdosed America: The Broken Promise of American Medicine."
It amazes me that these brave physicians have come out against there own profession to let people know how terrible broken medicine is and yet nothing and I mean nothing gets changed. Dr. Angell testified before a Congressional committee and nothing changed. It is disheartening to say the least and downright dangerous.
My husband has type 2 diabetes. He suffered for over 25 years with the effects of that so-called disease. He saw his doctors faithfully, took his medications and tried to lose weight. In 2002 he was on 45 units of insulin, metformin, Neurotin for painful severe neuropathy in his feet that limited his walking to 75 ft. He was on diuretics, statins, and other anti-hyperglycemic drugs. His weight ballooned to 280 pounds. He was miserable! and so was I.
I found Dr. Berstein's book and reading it was like a gift from heaven. I knew immediately after the first few pages that I had found the answer to my husband's recovery. That set me on a path of research and study about diabetes. I developed a program from all that books I read and in 2003 my husband began my program. Within 3 months my husband was completely off insulin. In 9 months he lost 80 pounds and shortly thereafter he lost another 20 pounds for a total weight loss of 100 pounds and he has never looked back. Within one year, 2004, he walked in two 5K races and finished. He is off of insulin, off of statins, off of diuretics, off of pain medication. He went from eating an abundance of carbs to eating 5 servings of carbs a day (75 grams). His energy levels went through the roof! He is back to being the man I married in 1960.
I share what we've learned through my "How We Beat Diabetes" classes. I feel so blessed to have found the answers to all the questions that I share with I've learned over these last 13 years with as many people as possible. The results have been nothing short of amazing. My goal in these classes are to empower patients so that they become a proactive partner with their doctor in their own healthcare.
For photos of my husband, before and after please check out http://www.marythediabeteslady.com I tell everyone about Dr. Bernstein's book, Diabetes Solution and how that book started me on my quest. Dr. B's book is number one on my list of Recommend Reading. He is my hero! I also refer them to Diet Doctor web site. I loved the Diet Doctor's post in 2014 about the diabetes conference he attended that served a lunch of a banana, chips, a Twix candy bar and water! That blew me away!! Then I went to a diabetes conference here in Cleveland OH co-sponsored by the ADA. They served a "light breakfast" of bagels, doughnuts, cereal, fruit and of all things a huge unlimited supply of orange juice!!! Am I nuts? or are they?
Journals? CME? Perhaps some but this doesn't scratch the surface of what is needed to stay on top of changes in medicine. I'm thankful for the reps that call on my practice, and patients are uneducated about their role-- for instance, pharmaceuticals only make up less then 10% of total health care costs in the US. Speak out about hospital costs or managed care after you do some research. Just sticking up for a friend of mine that is in pharma, and believed I was qualified to chime in.