Was away last week and just getting caught up. Saw the latest smackdown hijack battle thread, and the part about drug cos. monitoring the boards. Tell me what you make of this:
I'm pretty sure I made a crack somewhere about Amgen making our ped rheum's car payment. I was joking (okay, half-joking), trying to justify why he is so Enbrel-only these days, when even another ped rheum told him 'if the mom is willing to do Humira, just give it to her!' (we are still doing well on AP, thank you every much; OT says she can barely feel any fluid on her wrist anymore!).
So, last visit, after we got another Enbrel speech and he couldn't answer any questions specific to my daughter, he worked in that he drives a '96. Huh? 'She needs Enbrel, I need to go now, what do you drive?' He literally blew off a direct question that I asked twice and only required a yes or no answer, said he was out of time and went to the door, then turned around and asked what I drive. And then made sure he worked in he drives an older car.
So now I'm paranoid. And Amgen pays him enough to pay cash for a used car, I guess LOL.
Sadly, of all the smack I have vented about him, the only thing he cared to address was that. Perhaps it is a 96 RollsRoyce?As far as I know, and I may be wrong, Enbrel is the only FDA approved one for Kids..........isn't it?
Time for you to go SHOPPING, for a new Doctor that is.
I'll be honest; I skip over all the conversations you are referring to so I can't talk directly to what you are talking about but I will say this; I"ve caught myself saying "I'm building the new wing down at my dentist office" because I've spent so much money down there this past year. It doesn't mean I really mean that. I'm just being funny.
K~Sorry I know that has nothing to do with what you are talking about......but it just popped into my mind after I read your post.
Could just be paranoid I don't know.....it is strange though right?
Katie - few RA meds are FDA-approved for kids, including mtx, but they use them all the time. Normally, you start w/Enbrel as your first biologic and it is combined w/mtx. My daughter had two serious infections on mtx, and I found a study that said kids did well on Humira alone and also some data that made me feel that people in general had less upper resp. and skin problems on Humira. (I don't want to debate that - to be clear, it made ME feel that way.)Ask him why on your dime he is deciding to discuss his car. If you wanted a car, you would go to a car dealer--you came to him to discuss your child's health.
I do believe they are all in bed together--the mds, the drug companies. Face it--it is $$$$$$$$--it is big business.
Why don't you just straight up ask him??? Tell him he sounds weird when he talks about humera and you want to know why.How would anyone know who you really are and who your RD was? Maybe I am just naive . I never thought so, but...I'm with you Nini. I have a hard time thinking that my RD is sitting at home scanning message boards and deducing which, among his patients, is posting messages.Argh...that's one of those situations where , if it were me, I would lament not
My AP doc reads message boards.
Pip
No, no, no, I do not think at all he is on the boards. But Gimpy is right, our situation is unusual and silly me posts using my real name (although he always calls me "Mom", or once called me "Susannah", so it's the Zithromax that would give it away, I guess!).Well, I do love a good conspiracy theory, but this one doesn't really work for me, sorry. The drug companies get negative press and comments from people and publications far more important than the lowly patients and their moms. And they are not at all fazed by it. They don't care. Yeah if you were on the Today Show making these comments they would probably send a corporate spokesperson to dispute what you have to say, and talk about how much they are doing to help the disease-ridden public, but it wouldn't change anything. There was even an episode of Law & Order done on this very topic.
I wouldn't put any meaning into the doctor's comments, other than maybe has has picked up on some vibes you are sending off, probably without even knowing it.
With regard to the message boards, I fantasize about my doctor and others reading the boards. I think it would be about the single greatest thing a doctor could do! It would mean he was spending time listening to the issues surrounding the patients he treats, and the pain and frustration they are experiencing. A doctor that would take the time to investigate a message board and understand his patients life and reality would be a superstar for me.
The bottom line is, you have made a choice for your child's treatment that you are happy with, it seems to be working, and you are actively involved in the decision making. If you are not comfortable with the doctor, or feel you can't trust him, it's time to change doctors. We have all experienced that - there are some really, really disappointing doctor-patient relationships, and incompetent and/or just greedy doctors. But there are some excellent doctors out there too.
The ball is in your court, find the one that fits your needs.
But, Hillhoney, the drug marketing companies openly admit they readI don't doubt that there are trolls from marketing companies who pop into any and all message boards and promote the products they are representing, perhaps offering "personal" testimony about how well a particular product has worked for them. That's no different than the well placed shill in the crowd back in the days when charletans sold their snake oil from the back of a wagon. It stinks, but from a business standpoint I could see where it would make sense.
But the idea of a marketing company checking for negative comments made about their practices or products, figuring out who said them and telling their doctor what they said is just simply too far stretched. What would it accomplish from a business standpoint. It would take a lot of time and effort and money - and for what end result?
Well, I have no idea about that. I think that's why Suzanne is so confusedHillhoney -
That Law and Order episode made an appearance in an article (THAT I CAN'T FIND - DARN IT) that I sooooo wanted to post. I'm pretty sure it was either the LA or NY Times and it was on how pharma co's are now scripting shows around their products. It's called 'product placement' but it's no longer Paula Abdul getting paid to stick herself with a Humira pen. The writer's on the medical drama's have a plot line and Pharma 'buys' in as a consultant. They then work with the writers to develop a plot line around their product. So...if the writer wanted to write about an adverse reaction - that gets killed off. Not in the best interests of the Pharma Co. It's long form advertising.
They also went on to tell about how they hire celebs to be the spokesperson for some "new disease" and how the celebs handlers won't divulge how much the celeb makes in 'endorsements'.
Real docs on these boards - MORE POWER TO THEM!
Pharma disguising reps to act like one of us - I got a problem with that.
Pip
Well, I found the link you're looking for, Pip! with the Law and Order episodeDamn, you're good!
http://www.brandweek.com/bw/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_c ontent_id=1003556675
Pip
I tried the link and couldn't find what you were referencing. But I am confused about what you are referring to. The episode I am referencing was about a pharmaceutical company paying doctors big bucks to treat underprivileged children with a medication that was actually killing them, and then getting them to cover up the fact that the deaths were caused by the medication - a medication which was being released as the next great cure. It was a very negative episode, and the Hollywood ending was of the CEO of the pharmaceutical company being arrested for murder, as well as the doctor involved with the case. I can't imagine that was a case of Product Placement.
I booted up my desk top so I could post an actual link
GoGo -
It did it again - added a space in 'heartfelt'. As an aside, you don't have the link to the House doc and paying for spokespersons do you? That's the one I keep thinking of - there was a lot more on how the scripting works.
Hillhoney - it does start like two different episodes. Do you know if it was an old episode? L&O has been on the air something like 17 years. There have been a lot of changes since then. I'm having my hubby search for the episode you talk about. We've seen EVERY episode thanks to the miracle of Tivo.
Pip
Duh - sound, not start!
Pip
It has a space but the link still works...at least on my computers. I have to look for that other link later. I have a bunch of stuff i have to go do now.Suzanne, this has turned into something very different than what I had intended, and for that I truly apologize. Having a child with a serious illness like RA is horrifying and as mother of 3 I feel nothing but sympathy and concern for you and your situation.
I was trying to make you feel empowered to get the care you deserve, and stop dealing with someone you can't trust. I was NOT trying to make you feel as though you have done anything wrong. Sometimes it is hard to convey what you are trying to convey in a little message box.
I don't know why the doctor made the bizarre comment about his car and it's age. Is it possible that you have made a comment to someone else, perhaps even as a joke, as Lovie said, about paying for his expensive car? Maybe it was another mom in the waiting room who went in after you, or something the receptionist overheard?
Mainly I think it's a mute point. You don't have a good relationship with this doctor, and no matter how difficult it is, you need to be finding a new doctor. Don't cancel any appointments with this doctor until you have established a relationship with a new doctor that you trust, so you at least still have a doctor to handle emergencies. Take your own copies of lab results and medical records to the new doctor, so that the present doctor doesn't even know what you are doing. And if he should find out, it doesn't matter. You have a right to seek another opinion.
Please don't feel attacked. While I disagree with your theory about how he knew what you have been saying, I don't feel you are in any way at fault in this. And I fully support you seeking AP treatment for your daughter.
Let me tell you, 'paying a dr. to do a study on underprivileged children' sure strikes a chord with me! There are so few RA meds approved and/or studied in children. I found an old study done by a ped rheum we have seen, and was totally surprised by the disproportionate racial breakdown of the study group. It was not the demographic of his practice (been there in person) or the disease. When I read it, my first thought was, "They are taking advantage of underprivileged children". Wow. Hillhoney - No offense taken! I just wanted to convey that I have put some thought into this. I don't think the drug cos. look for negatives, or track people down, but in this situation I think it is worth considering that somehow my sarcasm found its way back to him.I just thought of something......perhaps he thinks that you're chosing a treatment course due to pricing.......some people judge others incomes by the car they drive. Seems far fetched, but I *have* had people ask me what I drive, before telling me the price of something I was about to buy. (I know it sounds SO weird, but it's happened 2 or 3 times, I swear)
Katie, that is why salespeople (especially selling big ticket items) ask where you work, what do you do, etc. It is a tool in sales. It helps the sales people know what you can afford etc.Katie - I get what you are saying, but he doesn't fish that hard for that type of info. Every visit, I have to fill out the same form (even though nothing has changed) that asks our education level, occupations, dates of birth, even our daughter's preschool name! And that visit, I told them I had talked to insurance about biologics. Even getting injections at the ped's office instead of doing them myself was still relatively cheap (in my opinion) compared to other expenses we have incurred.
It won't be long before we see him again. Maybe I should "plant" something somewhere LOL!
The reason the doctor changed the subject seems simple enough to me. You were asking about info that by law he/she could not give out. You can not even talk about cases involving patients in the hallways or elevators of most facilities because of privacy laws. He probably didn't want to seem as if he was withholding info, so he changed the subject. In our training videos at the hospital I work at, that is one of the strategies they suggest to distract from priveledged info is changing the subject. After reading this thread, I'll be honest and just say I can't tell you that. However, there will be some who won't believe that either.Maybe he thought it must be you who door-dinged him in the parking lot! Caprice - there was no priveleged info here. We were discussing my daughter only within the exam room, nurse present, too (She was playing the role of Chief Subject Changer, actually). She did not jump in for the save the first time I asked my horrible question (guess she was wondering, too???), specific only to my daughter. And he blah blah blahhed, but did not answer, so I said, yes, I get that, but....and asked again (nurse still looking like, 'well, I'd like to know that, too'). Then he said he was out of time and had to go. So I let it go, we were all gathering everything up and getting out the door. Then he stopped and turned around and asked what I drove. There is no logical explanation for this that I can see. If he was out of time, why hang out and talk cars???