Corrupting Doctors in the Pharma Industry

[pobreng_pasyente]

why is it that medical representatives always corrupt doctors with trips abroad, disguised as Continuing Medical Education, golf tournaments, the PHAP guidelines are not being followed. this is one reason why medicines here in the Philippines are soooooooooooo expensive.!

[Ira]

Personally, I ignore or refuse the gifts. I don't want to be tied to one product when I prescribe a particular line of drug. And I HATE fawning med reps. I can't speak for other doctors, though.

[batang uliran]

I'm with Ira. I generally refuse their gifts and are very critical of what they tell me of their products. And you are right, unfortunately, many doctors are unduly influenced by these reps and worse, many seem to get most of their medical info from these reps.

[dotcom]

I too decline from accepting any "gift". Then again, determining what should be considered a "gift" sometimes falls into the gray area. I've always used the principle "if not all concerned (doctors/specialists) can avail of the item, then it is a gift, not a promotional item. The promotional items, I accept.

[pobreng_pasyente]

[QUOTE].. to Ira, since you are a physician, i pressume you were courted one way or the other by multinational companies. I admire your answer, how i wish that all doctors would agree to your comments. In the Pharma industry, one of the most " giving" pharma company is Aventis. I hope you can send this page to our goverment officials, particularly Dr. romualdez. Ang kakapal ng mga ilang kabaro mo, halos maging personal driver na ang ilang ahente, mamulubi sa mga gimik ng ilang doktor, para sa iilang reseta, All i can say is that the PHAP guidelines are a lot of of Bull****!!!!!

[Ira]

I truly sympathize, Pobreng_pasyente. I've always been a very strong proponent of the generics law; and while I'm materialistic, and I appreciate a promotional pen occassionally, I'm not so materialistic na ibabaon ko ang sarili kong integridad at ibabaon ko ang pasyente sa utang para lang ma-fill ang quota ko sa isang drug company to pay back for a nice dinner at Shangrila Hotel or a golfing trip to Thailand (marami kasing offer na ganun sa amin, but my friends and I have never obliged. ) I really hope that this practice of bribing physicians will die very soon. It's degrading. There are still a lot of doctors with integrity out there, though, and I hope you'll be handled by one of them.



[This message has been edited by Ira (edited 04-13-2000).]

[KuyaDanny]

Doctors, have any of these "drug pushers" actually given out cash? Or are the promotions confined to "goods and services"?

[batang uliran]

Here in the U.S., the money is doled out indirectly. Aside from trips and such already mentioned, drug companies sponsor talks - sometimes not necessarily about their products but about some general topic and many comapnies actually give you carte blanche on what you want to talk about (they are there though prominently giving away freebies and such). The usual honorarium for such things is $500 to $1000 for one night's work.