Explanation of U.S. healthcare costs.

[senseinobaka]

ManusJustus said:

senseinobaka said:

Yea, that's illegal. A pharma company cannot pay kickbacks for writing perscriptions. Drugs yeild no profitability to doctors. Also, poor people usually aren't economically smart enough to realize that buying a name brand drug at a clinic pharmacy is stupid. You can save alot of money buy buying a generic from a walmart or target.

Its not illegal, and it is impossible to say that a doctor made a wrong decision unless it was blantantly obvious.  Surgery to remove an infection or medicine?  Surgery is much more profitable while medicine is a lot safer and more effective (no new infection from surgery, no missed infection during surgery).  However you cannot fault a doctor for advising surgery because its an individual opinion on two well accepted methods.

Patients aren't stupid, they are ignorant.  If anything you are the ill-informed one because many generic drugs lack proper delivery systems that name brands have.  I do not understand these mechanisms because I am not a doctor (that makes me ignorant too), but I have close relatives that are who inform me when I can buy generic and when its best to buy brand name.

I can assure you that a pharma company paying a doctor to perscribe their drug over a competing one is 110% illegal. I've seen (remember I work for pharma) sales reps dismissed immediatly for inappropiately handing out low value gifts, such as a meal.

As for generics. The active ingredients are 100% chemically equivalent per FDA regs. This means that the forumula will produce the same effect. Often times Clinical Trials show little to no difference in safety and efficacy. As for delivery systems, and I don't want to get too involved, you are refering to patented technolgy that can control release over time for longer effects or they help target specific areas. An example is new generation Histimine blockers, they are pretty much the same thing as last gen histimine blockers except they don't cross the Blood Brain Barrier, so you don't get drowsey. But the bottom line is that generics without the delivery systems are just as effective but may have to be taken more often due to not being controlled release or may have more annoying side effects, but if you cant afford the name brand.. then tough s###, get what you can afford or get a better job.