Isn't your Health Worth a Free Lunch?

This post will proabably NOT be a fun read for most folks. However, it's a topic near and dear to my heart. You've no doubt seen the recent headlines proclaiming, "Dr.'s still receiving gifts from pharmaceutical companies." If you read the articles, it's obvious that the intent is to show that pharma company influence doctors to prescribe their medications by enticing them with gifts. But what the articles don't generally tell you, are how these gifts are given and what they Dr. does to get them.

A little history though first: Yes, years ago there was a lot of gift giving and glad-handing going on and yes, watchdog groups did a generally good thing by bringing these practices to light and significantly slowing them down. But we're to a point now where the regulations are adversely affecting the industry, much as we've seen with tobacco industry. I mean, when a company is forced to spend money asking people NOT to use their product, aren't we going the wrong way for a capitalistic society?

The FDA has placed strict limits on what can/can't be given to Dr.'s in return for their ear. Here are the general guidelines--what you won't see in the article:

• Lunch: Sales reps can bring lunch to the Dr.'s office for him/her and their staff. Now here's the thing about lunch. How long do you spend with your Dr. actually talking? 5 minutes? Maybe 7? And when you go home at night, how much time do you spend educating yourself about your industry? personally, I spend almost no time outside the office thinking about work. It's the same for Doctors. The only time they have to educate themselves about new drugs, is when they are in the office. So is it so wrong for a sales rep to say,

  "Hey, I'll bring in lunch and let's you and me sit down for 10 minutes and
  talk about this drug and what it does and does not do."

• Payment for speaking: Every industry hold conferences where you can learn about the latest new widget and how to use it. No difference for the medical field. In fact, I want a Dr. that knows what's going on out there rather than someone who graduated from med school 10 years ago and hasn't brushed up on his skills since then. What happens here is that a pharma company pays a Dr. to speak at a conference on a particular topic. Now, that topic obviously relates to some medical condition that the pharma company has a medication for. But here's the kicker that these "anti-pharma" articles don't tell you: The doctor cannot mention the pharma company by name during his presentation, nor can he pitch their drug. So, even though Big Pharma Company A is paying a Dr. to speak on hemmorhoids and the treatment of said inflammations, they're getting no promotion out of it other than maybe public awareness.

And folks, that's pretty much it unless a Dr. does research for a pharma company, which isn't really anyone's concern since it doesn't influence what medications he or she prescribes.

See, they're not so bad really. Are there doctors who try and abuse the system and will there always be someone out there who lets them get away with it? Yes, but no more so than any other industry. I just don't get these socialists who think that our healthcare system would be better off if Sales Reps didn't promote their products. I don't think they understand how many jobs would be affected (sales, research, general office staff) if our capitalistic healthcare system went the way of our friends up in the great frozen north (Canada).

Next time you're sick and want to see the doctor, try this little experiment. Call a general practitioner in Canada and see how long it takes you to get in. And then call your doctor. And later that day when you're driving to the pharmacy and paying your $10 co-pay for a miracle drug that's gonna fix you up, thank a pharma company. Just try it...

Yearly Check Ups

Not mine thank you...the kids. In a moment of what could only be described as insanity, I volunteered to take both boys (simulatneously) to the Dr's. office for their yearly checkup. Ethan was due for his yearly and Aiden for his monthly.

We arrived at the scheduled time of 8:30 as we were supposed to, and were behind probably 4-5 others who were there with their sick kids, ranging in age from infant up to at least 15. This one mother, acted as I imagine my adopted mom would have if suddenly faced with actually having to care for a child. She didn't have a clue. I mean, come on, anyone who goes to the doctor knows the routine right?

...you walk in...you sign in...they give you a chart to fill out and you hand them your insurance card...sometimes you immediately pay your co-pay, and you get the heck outta the way. Not so, this mom. She fumbled, she mumbled, she SET HER PURSE ON THE FLOOR TO LOOK FOR HER INSURANCE CARD. And then...and then, when all that was done, she just stood there in front of the sign-in sheet and wouldn't move. The kicker was that her kid was a teenager and here she is acting like it's the first time she's been to the Dr. Lay off the Prozac lady and plug into reality. (Dear Lord, please forgive me. I'm sorry for making fun of people with mental instability and those pygmies over in New Guinnea...")

Here I am, holding a not-too-light infant and carrier, while trying to herd my older son away from the sick kids and into the "Well children" side of the office.

Luckily, before there was an evisceration, the lady finally moved and things proceeded as normally. We were called back...well, actually my youngest son was called back and then when I explained they both had appointmentes, well...I think I just completely threw her for a loop. She placed us in a room while they "sort it all out." (with a sickly sweet smile that makes you just want to say, "Don't bother, I'll find another pediatrition." Which I won't because it's way too difficult a proposition.")

So finally about 20 minutes later, two ladies come in to tag-team us and they proceed to ask for my oldest son's cooperation, and in response he stuck his finger up his nose and proceeded to hide behind a chair. Now normally, this is where I'd grab an arm and drag him out kicking and screaming all the while threatening a spanking, but I'm in pubic, so instead I use the old, "You won't got to the train show today unless you do this" argument. And it works a little; at least enough that they do what they need to do. My youngest son was easy...all they had to do was remove his clothes and he was ready to go.

So, when they left, they told me to take off all my oldest son's clothes down to his underwear (you mean diaper?) and wait for el doctor. Thirty minutes later, I'm out of soothing bottle for the infant, my oldest son has run through his gamut of toys and I'm getting steamed. I stick my head out the door and start complaining to the first lackey I could find, who actually stood her ground fairly well, until I used the, "I don't care how many sick kids came in ahead of me, we had an appointment. If you can't staff enough to meet your obligations, then don't make any." There was nothing she could say to that really, so I win!

Finally the doctor came in, one of the few we really like there, and that really saved the day. The kids are healthy, the Dr. used his authority to tell my older son that "Picking your nose is an ugly habit," and "You should use the potty ALL the time." We'll see how well that works.

At any rate, I got out with my sanity (just barely) and major brownie points with my wife, which is really worth gold in these days of precious few moments of "me" time. So, alls well that ends well, at least until next year.