cretinbob: [www.11points.com image 550x300]

Well-played.

You already get a pretty good notion of who has been schmoozing your doctor by looking at the logos on the posters on the walls, the note pads, and the pens.

Diogenes: My doctor refuses to see pharma reps. If they want to talk to him they can try and catch him at lunch. I was in recently to get blood drawn and there was a rep who just wouldn't give up. The staff kept telling him to back off, and he kept trying to get through the door from the waiting room to the hall with the receptionist and exam rooms. He kept saying he had to see the doctor sign his app on his laptop saying he refused the sales pitch. I had half a mind to throw him out myself. The doctor finally had enough, came out and told him off in front of all the waiting patients, and told him to never come back.

There's nothing more that I hate than a sales rep insinuating that I MUST do something because some dumbass process engineer at their company that makes some shiatty product mandates it.

Nearly a quarter of doctors take cash payments from pharmaceutical and device companies.
Nearly a quarter of doctors take cash payments from pharmaceutical and device companies.
Nearly a quarter of doctors take cash payments from pharmaceutical and device companies.
Nearly a quarter of doctors take cash payments from pharmaceutical and device companies.
Nearly a quarter of doctors take cash payments from pharmaceutical and device companies.
Nearly a quarter of doctors take cash payments from pharmaceutical and device companies.

Bears Bears Bears.

I particularly like how US doctors claim that they are not wealthy any more because of their insurance premiums or some nonsense like that - and then we find out just how many are in the top 1%, a demographic that requires an AGI of around $400k.

Obamacare or better, please. NOW.

/ happily living in the UK with NHS and Bupa.

xanadian: [t0.gstatic.com image 299x169]

Especially if my surgeon has to wear a racing helmet. "And now we're going to bisect the lower intestine. VRROOOOOOM!!!! VARRRROOOOMMMM!!!..."

Paging Dr Stig to the Er

Some say he can fix a ruptured spleen by touching it, and that he has no clue what an appendix is.....

At least they don't have to be specially made.

This is already required of us.

Link (new window)

I have left a few doctors because they would diagnose me with something and then bust out the prescription pad. This would be followed by me saying "I heard that taking such and such vitamin may help with this"...Then the Doctor pretty much laughs in my face. I take the prescription papers from him, never get the actual pills and take the vitamins and cure myself. Obviously I wouldn't do this for anything serious, but for some minor problems, they were prescribing me medications where the side effects were way worse than the actual problem.

I need to find a Doctor who is in shape. The last few Doctors I had were either smokers, or looked like they were about to die. How can I take medical advice from someone who doesn't even know how to maintain themselves?

nekom: basemetal: Do that to politicians and you'll make all of the United States happy.

That's already well know if people would bother to look into it.

But it would be kind of awesome to see Congressmen arguing in support of SOPA/PIPA with big patches with the MPAA and RIAA logos on them and try to pretend they're impartial.

Corporate Compliance is already required. Has been for a while. Go to any manufacturer's website and buried in there is a file that lists consulting payments. As a surgeon, I'll agree some of them are WAY out of control. Unfortunatley, I missed out on this cash-cow. I'm not a consultant for anyone :(

Zimmer Orthopaedic Consulting Payments (new window)

Cool so I can ignore him too.

...while nearly two thirds accept gifts of food...

And the other one-third are lying. Seriously, drug reps don't show up anywhere without Italian or BBQ catering of some kind. Once the Glaxo rep for our area had an extended leave of absence, and residents started starving to death.

Wah wah Wah!!! I don't like that doctors make more than me!!!

They shouldn't be able to earn more!!! How dare they!!

Thread summary

Calm Down You Spaz: Wah wah Wah!!! I don't like that doctors make more than me!!!

They shouldn't be able to earn more!!! How dare they!!

Thread summary

somehow i think you missed the target, much like that thug in the barber thread above this one

And where will they be required to disclose this information? The law is essentially useless. How is a consumer supposed to know where to go look to see if a doc is on the take from one or more of the thousands of pharma and medical device suppliers? To you have the time to check all their websites? Do you even know who they are? Unlikely. This is just one of those laws that make us feel good, but has no teeth.

Calm Down You Spaz: Wah wah Wah!!! I don't like that doctors make more than me!!!

They shouldn't be able to earn more!!! How dare they!!

Thread summary

Way to totally ignore that the FDA has suffered regulation capture allowing pharmaceutical companies to pass drugs with dangerous side effects. While doctors are pushing dangerous drugs that kill people and injure their health because representatives of those drug companies bribe them.

But yeah we are angry because doctors make more, or maybe your just a farking Republican moron.

/Although I think calling Republicans morons is redundant, but they are so stupid you really have to make it obvious when you insult them.

I thought you could tell by which drug company reps are blowing your doctor.

Now if they could just get my doctor to look like Danica Patrick.

mavexe: Diogenes: My doctor refuses to see pharma reps. If they want to talk to him they can try and catch him at lunch. I was in recently to get blood drawn and there was a rep who just wouldn't give up. The staff kept telling him to back off, and he kept trying to get through the door from the waiting room to the hall with the receptionist and exam rooms. He kept saying he had to see the doctor sign his app on his laptop saying he refused the sales pitch. I had half a mind to throw him out myself. The doctor finally had enough, came out and told him off in front of all the waiting patients, and told him to never come back.

There's nothing more that I hate than a sales rep insinuating that I MUST do something because some dumbass process engineer at their company that makes some shiatty product mandates it.

I would presume that either A) no such requirement actually exists, it's just a ploy to literally get his foot in the door. Or B) it does exist but was put there by someone at the company for the express purpose of facilitating the end result of option A.

I highly doubt that anyone at the pharma, who doesn't directly benefit from increased sales, would have gone out of their way to add such a thing without being told to do so by management.

Full disclosure is also required of the authors of any publication in a Peer Reviewed Journal. I'll freely admit that most patients don't come with the recent literature from The American Journal of Sports Medicine when I talk to them about ACL reconstruction options, but a surpirsing amount actually do.

Industry funded research is alway suspect. I think it's our nature to distrust it, even if the results are positive and the device in question greatly facilitates recovery from injury.

As for how much money doctors make, I'm in the military so I'm not in that group (but I am paid very well at 1/4 to 1/5 the amount of a civilian orthopaedic surgeon, thank you for your tax dollar support). Are the civilian guys (and myself) paid too much? Hard to say. I'm told a fair price is what the market will bear. I'm just not sure I would do 26 years of school again if there wasn't at least a hope of significant financial benefit at the end of that grind.

Can't think of any time I've pushed a dangerous medication on someone because a Big Pharma is paying me. I use the stuff I use for surgery because it works well and when I call the Rep on short notice, he shows up. Maybe it's because I'm secluded on a military installation, but even as a resident and in civilian practices, you just don't see the drug reps/equipment reps pushing their stuff aggressively. We use what works. If two things work the same and the reps are both good dudes, I use what's cheapest (I'm spending tax dollars, after all).

Just suggesting that not all of us are motivated by massive payouts from drug companies (or even many of us).

SuburbanCowboy: I have left a few doctors because they would diagnose me with something and then bust out the prescription pad. This would be followed by me saying "I heard that taking such and such vitamin may help with this"...Then the Doctor pretty much laughs in my face. I take the prescription papers from him, never get the actual pills and take the vitamins and cure myself. Obviously I wouldn't do this for anything serious, but for some minor problems, they were prescribing me medications where the side effects were way worse than the actual problem.

I need to find a Doctor who is in shape. The last few Doctors I had were either smokers, or looked like they were about to die. How can I take medical advice from someone who doesn't even know how to maintain themselves?

I work for a cardiology office and while all of our doctors are great, there is one who weighs about 375+. In any case, they all hate meeting with drug reps and as of the first of this year they no longer do lunches.

That being said, some drug samples are a good thing for patients who cannot afford drugs, etc. Depends on the speciality and the variety of medications.

This will help, but the patient must always question a doctor's intent, anyway...
Docs have services to sell, no different than a used car salesman or an attorney.

The clock on my doc's wall was branded with the drug name he had just prescribed me... I'm familiar with it already, and am ok with the drug for that particular treatment, but i'm still aware he's getting a kickback. Just as long as I know...

When DJ's took money to play records it was called payola and it was a crime. Now for doctors it's ok to take money to push their drugs as long as you're honest about it?

nekom: "That's already well know if people would bother to look into it."

Oh? Are 501(c)(4)s required to disclose donors now? Or is the IRS publishing their Form 990s?

// Approves

WienerButt: SuburbanCowboy: I have left a few doctors because they would diagnose me with something and then bust out the prescription pad. This would be followed by me saying "I heard that taking such and such vitamin may help with this"...Then the Doctor pretty much laughs in my face. I take the prescription papers from him, never get the actual pills and take the vitamins and cure myself. Obviously I wouldn't do this for anything serious, but for some minor problems, they were prescribing me medications where the side effects were way worse than the actual problem.

I need to find a Doctor who is in shape. The last few Doctors I had were either smokers, or looked like they were about to die. How can I take medical advice from someone who doesn't even know how to maintain themselves?

I work for a cardiology office and while all of our doctors are great, there is one who weighs about 375+..

I agree 100% with this one. Having a doc tell you to stop smoking when he/she reeks of the inside of an ashtray just makes the doc look like an idiot.

I'm 6'1", 184lbs, about 7% body fat partially because the Army encourages such a physique. Mostly because I think I'd look like a tool telling a morbidly obese diabetic that I'm not going to do a total knee replacement on her because she's a morbidly obese diabetic when I look just like her.

I think it's important to look the part. At least as a patient, I would expect that of my surgeon. There are too many of us out there to go to one you're not comfortable with. I wouldn't take nutrition advice from a fatty or medical advice from a smoker.

jayhawk88: ...while nearly two thirds accept gifts of food...

And the other one-third are lying. Seriously, drug reps don't show up anywhere without Italian or BBQ catering of some kind. Once the Glaxo rep for our area had an extended leave of absence, and residents started starving to death.

When I worked at a mental health clinic, those would always be the best days since the reps brought enough food for pretty much the entire clinic. The docs always had lots of rep swag (enough that they gave a lot of it away), but they used what they felt would work best rather than what a rep was selling.