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When doctors don't listen to patients (inspired by MM's thread)
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<blockquote data-quote="susiestar" data-source="post: 550437" data-attributes="member: 1233"><p>MWM, I DO know why some drugs become so popular. Drug co reps are why. I went to college with a number of people who became pharmaceutical co reps and if you ever want a cushy cushy job, that is one. These people arrange golf outings, lunches, dinners, parties, and go around to talk to docs about how great their medications are. They have not got a lot of medical training, mostly just know whatever is in the big print on the company info about the drug, but they go and push that drug to the docs, psychiatrists, nurses, staff, etc..... They also give out TONS of stuff with their logos on it. They do have to be fairly strong to carry all that stuff around because it can get heavy. </p><p></p><p>MANY docs only know what the drug rep tells them about the medications. The docs don't have time to read all the info on every drug. My fave docs are often those who will pull out a pda or sit at the computer and look up a medication and check interactions BEFORE they write the rx's. I tend to prefer the older drugs because honestly, we really have very little info on what the side effects of the newer drugs are. Esp because the pharm co's are legally able to suppress any and all studies that show problems with their drugs. (When I say 'MANY docs' I mean many that I have encountered and many that the drug co reps I used to know would talk about. The drug co reps knew that the docs were NOT going to take the time to read the prescribing info for the medications - where would they get the time with all the patients they have to see? I am NOT slamming doctors for not reading, just stating that most docs are seriously overbooked and there is a lot of info in tiny print about every single medication and it would be unrealistic for us to think that docs take the tme to read the full rx'ing info for every drug. How many patients read the full info about a medication that they get from the pharmacy? How many patients read ANY of the info that they get about their medications? I just don't want anyone to think this is a slam against docs - it is a statement of how it is for the docs I have spoken to about this issue.) </p><p></p><p>MWM, do you remember back when they were rx'ing neurontin as a mood stabilizer? Then a lawsuit revealed that it did NOTHING to stabilize moods and the company knew it and they were pushing it as a mood stab anyway? I really wish that were the exception, but it is all too easy for this to happen. Docs heard the reps telling them how great the medication was and they had to blieve something. But when patients didn't get better, the docs didn't stop to think it was that medication, they thought it was something else because they were told many times how great the medication was. Neurontin (gabapentin) is great at some things. it is a very useful medication for certain disorders. but it is NOT great as a mood stabilizer. </p><p></p><p>It took YEARS after the lawsuit made it very public that neurontin was NOT a mood stab for docs to stop rx'ing it for that purpose. One of the docs we saw for Wiz was very upset that even a year or two after the info went public he was still getting new patients who were on that medication. </p><p></p><p>Not all pharm reps are awful or bad. They do serve a purpose, but that purpose often puts medical info into the minds of docs when the rep is a salesman and NOt a medical professional. But that is why some drugs become very popular - the drug co throws a ton of $$$ into marketing and the drug reps arrange meals and outings so they can tell the docs all about their products.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="susiestar, post: 550437, member: 1233"] MWM, I DO know why some drugs become so popular. Drug co reps are why. I went to college with a number of people who became pharmaceutical co reps and if you ever want a cushy cushy job, that is one. These people arrange golf outings, lunches, dinners, parties, and go around to talk to docs about how great their medications are. They have not got a lot of medical training, mostly just know whatever is in the big print on the company info about the drug, but they go and push that drug to the docs, psychiatrists, nurses, staff, etc..... They also give out TONS of stuff with their logos on it. They do have to be fairly strong to carry all that stuff around because it can get heavy. MANY docs only know what the drug rep tells them about the medications. The docs don't have time to read all the info on every drug. My fave docs are often those who will pull out a pda or sit at the computer and look up a medication and check interactions BEFORE they write the rx's. I tend to prefer the older drugs because honestly, we really have very little info on what the side effects of the newer drugs are. Esp because the pharm co's are legally able to suppress any and all studies that show problems with their drugs. (When I say 'MANY docs' I mean many that I have encountered and many that the drug co reps I used to know would talk about. The drug co reps knew that the docs were NOT going to take the time to read the prescribing info for the medications - where would they get the time with all the patients they have to see? I am NOT slamming doctors for not reading, just stating that most docs are seriously overbooked and there is a lot of info in tiny print about every single medication and it would be unrealistic for us to think that docs take the tme to read the full rx'ing info for every drug. How many patients read the full info about a medication that they get from the pharmacy? How many patients read ANY of the info that they get about their medications? I just don't want anyone to think this is a slam against docs - it is a statement of how it is for the docs I have spoken to about this issue.) MWM, do you remember back when they were rx'ing neurontin as a mood stabilizer? Then a lawsuit revealed that it did NOTHING to stabilize moods and the company knew it and they were pushing it as a mood stab anyway? I really wish that were the exception, but it is all too easy for this to happen. Docs heard the reps telling them how great the medication was and they had to blieve something. But when patients didn't get better, the docs didn't stop to think it was that medication, they thought it was something else because they were told many times how great the medication was. Neurontin (gabapentin) is great at some things. it is a very useful medication for certain disorders. but it is NOT great as a mood stabilizer. It took YEARS after the lawsuit made it very public that neurontin was NOT a mood stab for docs to stop rx'ing it for that purpose. One of the docs we saw for Wiz was very upset that even a year or two after the info went public he was still getting new patients who were on that medication. Not all pharm reps are awful or bad. They do serve a purpose, but that purpose often puts medical info into the minds of docs when the rep is a salesman and NOt a medical professional. But that is why some drugs become very popular - the drug co throws a ton of $$$ into marketing and the drug reps arrange meals and outings so they can tell the docs all about their products. [/QUOTE]
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