Money orgy
One thing about the medical profession is that there is a constant influx of money: Drug companies, equipment companies, the AMA. The flow of money into the system and the amount of money can make some people sick. Medical students, on the other hand, we no longer have a concept of money. We live on a constant supply of money for which we don't have to work, at least that's how we perceive it. I get my loan money at the beginning of each semester and that's how I live. I have 44,000 dollars in loans for just this fiscal year. That's really not a lot of money, if you are a small business. For the average American, who has one mortgage, that is a third or so of their house. And that's for one year. Enough about loans.
The flow of money that pays for medically related conferences or dinners or promotional items is amazing. Truly amazing. Last night I attended a dinner that was geared towards AMA recruitment. Benign enough, the AMA national or state, some unseen entity, had simply provided a credit card for a dinner of 20 people at a decent restaurant. There was a limit on how much each person was to spend, but a couple people didn't show up, so... more for the rest of us. It was truly amazing that someone, some thing, some entity had provided money for us to eat. "Okay, here's 400 dollars. Go have dinner. Enjoy." Now, this wasn't an unfounded dinner. The AMA is actively recruiting medical students and physicians to be active members in a national organization designed to protect physicians and patients alike. The dinner was supposed to be a recruitment dinner, but in this case was a dinner to congratulate everyone for joining the AMA.
This is similar to every other organization, drug company, etc. They all want people to represent them or buy from them. Although in recent years there have been limitations on how much and what drug companies can buy for physicians. In the past years drug companies have bought plane tickets so physicians could vacation. They took physicians out golfing at the most expensive golf courses. They gave, and still give, bags, coffee mugs, clocks, and the ubiquitous drug pen. I have probably 2 or 3 dozen pens from different companies or from the same company, but for different drugs. Now they are more limited to providing meals, gifts, perks, etc. to people that would directly prescribe their drug. Its the old adage, "It takes money to make money." It all comes down how much money the company will make off the drug they are trying to sell to the physician. The physician isn't taking the drug, but simply telling other people to buy the drug. Interesting system isn't it? The average drug takes approximately 7 years to develop and move to market. (A drug patent is 14 years.) Companies can spend up to 750 million dollars in development of a drug with the hope that they will make billions. So spending millions on marketing the drug to physicians through perks seems less impressive.
So, if you are fortunate enough to benefit from this massive money orgy, take advantage. This is the attitude of many medical students, not all, but many. You feel like you are cheating the system by eating on the ticket of a company. In reality you are still being influenced in your attitudes toward a drug or a drug company or drug companies in general. This system, although flawed, seems to work. The patients get the drugs that are the best for the specific condition in most cases.
The flow of money that pays for medically related conferences or dinners or promotional items is amazing. Truly amazing. Last night I attended a dinner that was geared towards AMA recruitment. Benign enough, the AMA national or state, some unseen entity, had simply provided a credit card for a dinner of 20 people at a decent restaurant. There was a limit on how much each person was to spend, but a couple people didn't show up, so... more for the rest of us. It was truly amazing that someone, some thing, some entity had provided money for us to eat. "Okay, here's 400 dollars. Go have dinner. Enjoy." Now, this wasn't an unfounded dinner. The AMA is actively recruiting medical students and physicians to be active members in a national organization designed to protect physicians and patients alike. The dinner was supposed to be a recruitment dinner, but in this case was a dinner to congratulate everyone for joining the AMA.
This is similar to every other organization, drug company, etc. They all want people to represent them or buy from them. Although in recent years there have been limitations on how much and what drug companies can buy for physicians. In the past years drug companies have bought plane tickets so physicians could vacation. They took physicians out golfing at the most expensive golf courses. They gave, and still give, bags, coffee mugs, clocks, and the ubiquitous drug pen. I have probably 2 or 3 dozen pens from different companies or from the same company, but for different drugs. Now they are more limited to providing meals, gifts, perks, etc. to people that would directly prescribe their drug. Its the old adage, "It takes money to make money." It all comes down how much money the company will make off the drug they are trying to sell to the physician. The physician isn't taking the drug, but simply telling other people to buy the drug. Interesting system isn't it? The average drug takes approximately 7 years to develop and move to market. (A drug patent is 14 years.) Companies can spend up to 750 million dollars in development of a drug with the hope that they will make billions. So spending millions on marketing the drug to physicians through perks seems less impressive.
So, if you are fortunate enough to benefit from this massive money orgy, take advantage. This is the attitude of many medical students, not all, but many. You feel like you are cheating the system by eating on the ticket of a company. In reality you are still being influenced in your attitudes toward a drug or a drug company or drug companies in general. This system, although flawed, seems to work. The patients get the drugs that are the best for the specific condition in most cases.
posted by runrMD08 at 9:51 AM
1 Comments:
My grandfather was an MD beginning during WWII. He has amazing stories of the glamorous conferences that tobacco companies would organize around the country for doctors. He has described the gifts they would receive that always included free tobacco products. This is when he became a pipe smoker (he gave it up as soon as my mother coughed). This is how tobacco ads (usually in print at the time) would have explicit doctors' recommendations in them. The tobacco companies were indirectly paying off the doctors.
Thus, the buying and selling of doctors or students by pharmaceutical companies and medical organizations does not give me pause. I cling to the fact that the FDA is not bought and sold and thus the drugs on the market are effective and safe (see current Vioxx suit).
-DLMWS
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