Doctors are actually the glorified drug salesmen of pharmaceutical company products
Because they are given incentive benefits for prescribing certain drugs over others. Which drug they prescribe is the one accruing the HIGHEST $$$ PROFIT MARGIN, not the cheapest for the consumer or the most appropriate / effective.
Thus, Drs are like insurance agents who mess up your mind and make u feel obliged to buy their products so that just like insurance agents who push as many policies as one can afford as possible to achieve their own incentive bonuses for sales targets met, medical doctors also try to prescribe more of certain medications to score bonus payouts from drug company product sales incentive schemes like overseas trips, free samples and other material benefits based upon the number of items stocked for resale etc.
Thus the over-prescription of antibiotics and the biased emphasis on prescribing multiple expensive drugs over more effective, sustainable and affordable lifestyle change advice and disease control measures like diet control and exercise options that ultimately inflates healthcare costs in Singapore.
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Doctors should draw the line at gifts from drug companies
PUBLISHED: NOV 25, 2017, 5:00 AM SGT
Dr Chong Siow Ann has issued a timely reminder to doctors to be aware of the ploys of pharmaceutical companies and how to preserve their professional integrity (The siren call of the drug industry; Nov 21).
The reason for medical patents is to stimulate interest in research and find solutions to problems that vex a nation. The grant of a patent is designed to advance the economy and well-being of a nation. However, patent protection effectively grants the pharmaceutical industry a monopoly regardless of the consequences.
In the US, new medications approved by the Food and Drug Administration give firms the right to sell their drugs with no competition from generics for five to seven years. But drug makers can also use their patents to keep competitors out of the market.
It is an open secret that drug companies have been supplying free samples to influence doctors' medical biases and prescription-writing habits. This brings about a conflict between the physician's financial interest and the welfare of the patient.
The bottom line for any company is to sell their product and the best way is to convince doctors to prescribe them.
Canada has banned the use of TV, print and radio advertising of drugs directly to consumers. China has overhauled its intellectual property laws to allow its drug makers to make cheap copies of medicines still under patent protection in an initiative to unnerve foreign pharmaceutical companies. Chinese law allows Beijing to issue licences to eligible companies to produce generic versions of patented drugs during state emergencies or unusual circumstances or in the interests of the public.
Pfizer once sponsored a campaign by the Impotence Association that bore the company logo. The UK prescription medicines code of practice ruled that this was inappropriate because it would encourage patients to ask doctors for Viagra, a Pfizer product, by name.
Just as journalists must pay their own way on overseas trips to maintain accuracy, balance and the truth, doctors should also adhere to the same standards and turn down sponsored trips by drug companies.
Heng Cho Choon
A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 25, 2017, with the headline 'Doctors should draw the line at gifts from drug companies'.
http://www.straitstimes.com/forum/l...ld-draw-the-line-at-gifts-from-drug-companies
Because they are given incentive benefits for prescribing certain drugs over others. Which drug they prescribe is the one accruing the HIGHEST $$$ PROFIT MARGIN, not the cheapest for the consumer or the most appropriate / effective.
Thus, Drs are like insurance agents who mess up your mind and make u feel obliged to buy their products so that just like insurance agents who push as many policies as one can afford as possible to achieve their own incentive bonuses for sales targets met, medical doctors also try to prescribe more of certain medications to score bonus payouts from drug company product sales incentive schemes like overseas trips, free samples and other material benefits based upon the number of items stocked for resale etc.
Thus the over-prescription of antibiotics and the biased emphasis on prescribing multiple expensive drugs over more effective, sustainable and affordable lifestyle change advice and disease control measures like diet control and exercise options that ultimately inflates healthcare costs in Singapore.
-------------------
Doctors should draw the line at gifts from drug companies
PUBLISHED: NOV 25, 2017, 5:00 AM SGT
Dr Chong Siow Ann has issued a timely reminder to doctors to be aware of the ploys of pharmaceutical companies and how to preserve their professional integrity (The siren call of the drug industry; Nov 21).
The reason for medical patents is to stimulate interest in research and find solutions to problems that vex a nation. The grant of a patent is designed to advance the economy and well-being of a nation. However, patent protection effectively grants the pharmaceutical industry a monopoly regardless of the consequences.
In the US, new medications approved by the Food and Drug Administration give firms the right to sell their drugs with no competition from generics for five to seven years. But drug makers can also use their patents to keep competitors out of the market.
It is an open secret that drug companies have been supplying free samples to influence doctors' medical biases and prescription-writing habits. This brings about a conflict between the physician's financial interest and the welfare of the patient.
The bottom line for any company is to sell their product and the best way is to convince doctors to prescribe them.
Canada has banned the use of TV, print and radio advertising of drugs directly to consumers. China has overhauled its intellectual property laws to allow its drug makers to make cheap copies of medicines still under patent protection in an initiative to unnerve foreign pharmaceutical companies. Chinese law allows Beijing to issue licences to eligible companies to produce generic versions of patented drugs during state emergencies or unusual circumstances or in the interests of the public.
Pfizer once sponsored a campaign by the Impotence Association that bore the company logo. The UK prescription medicines code of practice ruled that this was inappropriate because it would encourage patients to ask doctors for Viagra, a Pfizer product, by name.
Just as journalists must pay their own way on overseas trips to maintain accuracy, balance and the truth, doctors should also adhere to the same standards and turn down sponsored trips by drug companies.
Heng Cho Choon
A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 25, 2017, with the headline 'Doctors should draw the line at gifts from drug companies'.
http://www.straitstimes.com/forum/l...ld-draw-the-line-at-gifts-from-drug-companies
