Jason shared a post with me today about a recent study illustrating how complex the medical industry truly can be. Doctors work as consultants for large corporations, reps tempt doctors with meals and other incentives – it is quite the game.
I actually remember my first glimpse into this sometimes innocent, sometimes rather sordid game that those in the medical and pharmaceutical fields can play. When I was a young teenager, I worked for a local medical office with about four doctors. I did your basic filing, billing assistance, and general grunt work. However, I was frequently in the position of seeing everything that happened in front of and behind closed doors. Our days were filled with pharmaceutical reps coming in and out of the office. They never came empty handed, whether it be nosesprays, pills, trays of food, or football tickets. There was always a way to lure the physicians into using their products. And it did not stop there. They spoke of their new American cars, paid travel, meals that were covered, shopping expenses. In fact, a fifteen-year-old even had to watch out for their wily ways. I found most of them pretty gross when I was so young, mourning the death of Kurt Cobain, and the hole in my Violent Femmes concert t-shirt. However, even teenage me was thankful when an adult was nice and conversant.
A couple of years ago I ran into a woman that I went to school with from elementary through high school. We were friends at a young age and then we quickly moved in two separate directions. She married a man I also went to school with and, although I always hoped that he would turn a corner, I always knew exactly what would happen to him. Turns out, they are both pharmaceutical reps. And, while I cannot speak for him, she looked ridiculous. Is it possible that she even had plastic surgery already? She talked about her “fabulous” life of American cars, clothes, marriage, first babies, travels, etc. All the while, I sat there in shock. I should not have been that surprised but it just seemed so, well, gross.
I find the constant “selling” in the medical profession to be quite disturbing. While one can easily find a way to rationalize the need for reps and consultants, etc., it is not ethical. Physicians must make sure that free pills, even though some of their patients really cannot afford medication, do not mean that they have sided with large corporations that may not have the best interest of the public in mind. An overhaul to the system, as a whole, is what is needed. We should all, physicians especially, be seeking to find ways to make sure that everyone can afford their medication (and doctors visits and MRIs) without someone having to “join the Dark Side”.
It is easy to accept free medication when you visit the doctor. However, next time you do so, I ask that you also spend some time working for a better overall solution. Do a bit of reading (even the Internet can be helpful); find out how your local, state, and national representatives feel about/vote on healthcare issues; volunteer at a healthcare facility; read about public health policy so that you are an informed member of society; and perhaps accompany someone to their next doctor’s visit so that you can be an advocate. Change does not happen overnight however; a little bit from everyone can go a very long way.
May the force be with you.
I think a bit closer to home for me was all the vendors at ALA giving out free stuff. I don’t think it’s on the same level as what you mention above, but I still felt a bit odd to be surrounded by all these folks clamoring for mediocre free products, enticing librarians to use their services and such.
I do like, though, the really cool displays they had on the floor. Those were cool.
Also, I’d just like to say to the ladies of America: enough with the plastic surgery already. It doesn’t really work.