Since I have taken a public beating about discussing the trips to the Bahamas doctors' get for meeting goals set by pharma reps of numbers of scripts they get filled, this article is for the record:
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080119/drug_trinket_roundup.html
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- When a Duluth-based operator of hospitals and clinics purged the pens, notepads, coffee mugs and other promotional trinkets drug companies had given its doctors over the years, it took 20 shopping carts to haul the loot away.
The purge underscored SMDC's decision to join the growing movement to ban gifts to doctors from drug companies.
SMDC scoured its four hospitals and 17 clinics across northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin for clipboards, clocks, mouse pads, stuffed animals and other items decorated with logos for such drugs as Nexium, Vytorin and Lipitor.
Trinkets, free samples, free food and drinks, free trips and other gifts have pervaded the medical profession, but observers say that's starting to change.
"We just decided for a lot of reasons we didn't want to do that any longer," Dr. Kenneth Irons, chief of community clinics for SMDC, said Friday.
So SMDC put together a comprehensive conflict-of-interest policy that, among other things, limits access to its clinics by drug company representatives. Employees suggested the "Clean Sweep" trinket roundup, Irons said.
Ken Johnson, a spokesman for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, had heard of hospitals and clinics banning promotional items before, but said SDMC's purge was unprecedented.
"I've never seen nor heard of a systematic roundup of pens and coffee mugs before," Johnson said. "It's a bit draconian. But the onus is on us now to do a better job of explaining the job and the importance of marketing representatives. Unfortunately there are a lot of cynics in America who want to think the worst."
SDMC's effort was motivated by a desire to show patients that its 450 doctors were serious about keeping prescription drug costs down and making unbiased medical decisions, Irons said.
The backlash against the cozy relationships between doctors and drug makers gained steam from article in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2006. It said research had shown that even cheap gifts, such as pens, can affect doctors' prescribing decisions.
The Prescription Project, funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, was founded to promote the JAMA article's recommendations for countering aggressive marketing to physicians by the pharmaceutical and medical device industries.
Marcia Hams, assistant director of the project, said she too hadn't heard of a roundup like SDMC's, but hopes other health organizations follow its lead.
"This seems like a pretty aggressive way to kick off a policy like that," she said. "It sends an important message, I think, for how a strict policy can be implemented in an effective way."
Kaiser Permanente, the country's largest HMO, Veterans Affairs hospitals and medical centers at several universities have recently adopted strict conflict-of-interest policies, such as gift bans, Hams said.
Many of SMDC's items will be going to the health system of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Cameroon, which has three hospitals, and several rural health centers.
Irons said there shouldn't be a conflict of interest in Cameroon because the advertised drugs aren't available there.
"Irons said there shouldn't be a conflict of interest in Cameroon because the advertised drugs aren't available there."
Good, because I was worried about the poor people of Cameroon.
Pip
I'm still not giving up my foam rubber Viagra.LOL -
You have to post a picture of that!
Jasmine, I wonder about youGee, what if one device was better suited for you specifically, but his quota was off for that month?
Don't get me started on "consulting fees". You can't see those, either.
LOL -
You have to post a picture of that!
[/QUOTE]I don't worry about the ones who take the pens and notepads. Or the lunches.
Lori~ I don't think that you're anti pill. You do seem anti doctor though. I don't think you're in the posistion to make a judgment on on the character of the "majority of doctors" or on what "most people" think of their doctors. I don't think my doctor is like God, nor does he present himself in that way. I have met doctors that seem to think that of themselves though.
Personally, I'll just form my opinions of people as I meet them. I think that any profession you pull out of the hat has some good and some bad. And that an idividual's character comes from their values and their moral code rather than their profession.
Linncn. What I was saying was some people just do what ever their doctorsA friend who is a pediatrician recently lamented the fact that when she goes to the doctor for herself, all they want to do is write a script! She says she has to press for other options, like lifestyle changes, and is very frustrated.
I don't think this is overblown, I think it is becoming the norm. When I went to PT for my back, I was in the same boat as everybody I met there - it was something we had requested, after telling our doctors we could not spend another day zonked out on the couch from pain pills, sleeping through the pain, not doing anything to decrease what was causing it.
My daughter was having an awful time with urinary frequency - we could not lead our normal life, could barely get from point A to point B. I thought it was the meds, or she had something bad going on. The doctor would only suggest Detrol!!! I was shocked - like I wanted her on another med! (I refused that and stopped Motrin on my own, and she was fine.)
But is it the chicken or the egg? Are patients driving this, because they prefer to pop a pill? Do doctors think that is what all patients want?
I think they don't want to hear old women whining.
Or kids.
Men, however, seem to get a lot less of this drivel. Just something I've noticed from the posts here.
Pip
Well then. I guess it's just me. I don't work with doctors I only see the ones who are "mine". I haven't had the bad experiences that many others on the board have had. I guess I'll just consider myself fortunate in that way.And Girl! are you lucky!My ex the chiropractor said that medical doctors are trained to do two things: dispense medications and perform surgeries. So, when you go the MD, that's what you get. I'm sorry, but I haven't had those kind of experiences with my doctors either. None of them have pushed meds or unnecessary surgeries. My ortho always suggests PT as the first option and I find that to be true in most of the people I meet in PT. I'm certain not shy or unable to speak my mind in any situation and my doctors like and respect that. Ya know, my docs have always been the opposite. They all have the "Eh.....roll around, you'll be alright...." mentality. Weird, eh?LinB - you're my hero on the tapering! I'd seen that one post of yours!
But I, and my mom, have had to pull teeth trying to get PT. I had to have a car accident to get some but that kinda got skipped. Now it's too late.
I think going to PT is one of the best decisons I ever made. My therapist has been so helpful and has a great deal of knowledge about RA. He has shown me exercises that help with my range of motion issues. I wouldn't continue to see an ortho or RD that didn't offer PT as the first option. I not a big fan of surgery for a lot of reasons, so I try and avoid it if at all posssible.
PT is the best thing, when you are dealing with a condition that isn't going to change! I have been debilitated by back pain, told by my GP my back was "horribly misshapen" (major scoliosis surgery at 15, only to have the rod come unhooked; doctors laughed in my mother's face when she asked if that was possible when she was agreeing to the surgery; LAUGHED).
I never take a thing for pain anymore, and I never spend a day in bed in agony, either. But prior to the PT order, the ortho had me on Vioxx (just before THAT news broke, and after I had refused Bextra based on hubby's cardio episode), Flexeril, and something I didn't fill (for if it got "really bad".)
Another interesting thing - with all the mega-practice mergers we have had, I can't avoid an ortho affiliated with the practice who did my initial surgery. When they see my unhooked rod, it ALWAYS goes like this: "Did you have it done here?" "Yes." "Okay, it will be fine, then." Oh, how reassuring.....
Suzanne - my ex the chiro had a big thing about Harrington Rods inserted into growing children. He said the failure rate was 100% as the child would grow, and pull the rod out of its screwed in placement. This was brought up when this cute as a button 18 year old came in one time who had them placed when she was like 8 or 10, I cannot remember, and both rods at the bottom were floating loose. He said (to me) she probably would never be able to endure sex nor be able to complete a pregnancy, but that was his opinion which he didn't share with her. It's all amazing.Cathy - supposedly, at 15, I was done growing. Funny, after the rod, my feet still grew from size 7 1/2 to 9. I've got huge feet for my height, plus long legs, hard to buy pants!
Pregnancy - actually played a big role in my parents' decision! A neighbor with scoliosis said she would never have another baby, because the pain was so bad. My parents didn't want that to happen to me, and my mom always said, "Her father was a doctor! How could he let that happen? Why didn't they get her the surgery?"
He "let" it happen, I'd say, because he knew....
Hey guys what pfizer did you work at? I was at Indiana Plant.
a -nut
Hey Nut!
???
Pip