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I'm a doctor, and I think this is a good idea. The information provided to both doctors and patients by drug companies is marketing material. The best source o
by phren0logy 11y ago
I'm a doctor, and I think this is a good idea.
The information provided to both doctors and patients by drug companies is marketing material. The best source of information is peer-reviewed publications, and even those are subject to some bias. Still, that's the best source we have, and should be the primary way all of us get health care information. If you, as a patient, do not understand what the reasearch articles are about, bring them with you to your appointment.
In my clinic, I do not accept visits or items from drug reps (including glossy marketing materials, pens, etc); the only thing they can leave me is a copy of a peer-reviewed article.
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- jessriedel 11y agoThis logic applies to all consumer products. The best way to tell which car is safer is to read the original cash-test reports. Furthermore, if you make a mistake in choosing your car, there is some chance you'll die as a result. Should we ban car commercial? Even car commercials that merely report (as they usually do) summaries of the crash-test reports ("best is class safety!", "4 stars from the car insurance safety board!"), because they may be biased in how they do so?
- phren0logy 11y agoCars are not only available by prescription.
- jessriedel 11y agoSo? You've identified a difference between cars and drugs, but it's not one that prevents your argument from applying to cars.
- woodman 11y agoVehicles are though, by way of DOT standards, various state regulations and licences... Wanna drive on the highway? That better be a vehicle perscribed for such activity.
- jerf 11y agoCars are already heavily regulated. The minimum-legal car may not be comfortable and may not be pretty, but it'll be pretty darned safe and be decently efficient (considering the amount of material it is hauling around to be that safe). You can't advertise a death trap because it's already illegal to sell one. It's a poor comparison to the medical world where you can not help but do dangerous things to solve even more dangerous problems.
- jessriedel 11y agoYou are vastly more likely to die in a car crash than from a non-abused prescription drug. Furthermore, small cars are significantly more deadly than large ones and trucks. Car companies obscure this by comparing cars to ones "in their class", thereby misleading the consumer into thinking that their high-scoring small car is about as safe as it gets. (I am putting aside opiate abuse, since illegal use is a different thing and opiates aren't advertised anyway. But this wouldn't much hurt my argument, since the deaths from cars are very comparable to opiate abuse, so one still can't argue that drugs are more dangerous than cars.)
- bcoates 11y agoTrucks? Last I researched this the Ford F150 and Dodge Ram -- popular, mainstream pickup trucks -- were by a large margin statistically among the least safe vehicles allowed on roads in America, compared across everything, not just in-class.
- jessriedel 11y agoDoesn't really matter to my argument, but for fun: In general, heavier vehicles are vastly safer. If you raise the center-of-gravity off the ground a lot, and don't increase the weight much, it's probably possible to increase the roll-over risk enough to make you worse off. But if you look at the data, you see that the deadliest vehicles are mostly compacts, and the safest ones are mostly SUVs. http://www.thecarconnection.com/news/1096667_the-most-deadly-and-least-deadly-cars-in-america http://www.thecarconnection.com/news/1096667_the-most-deadly... These differences are huge, like, factor of 100 huge.
- johnward 11y ago> If you, as a patient, do not understand what the research articles are about, bring them with you to your appointment. As a doctor do you actually take time for questions? Can you be my doctor? Most of the time the doctors I visit are quick to write a 'scrip to treat symptoms instead of taking the time to find the root cause. After 10 years still no luck.
- jacquesm 11y ago> In my clinic, I do not accept visits or items from drug reps (including glossy marketing materials, pens, etc); the only thing they can leave me is a copy of a peer-reviewed article. That's absolutely super good and I wished that more (all?) doctors followed your example.
- a3n 11y agoThat's a great approach. However ... when I was unemployed, I was very happy that my doctor had free samples from her rep of $DRUG_THAT_KEEPS_ME_ALIVE. Our pediatrician also had free samples for some of the things our kid needed.
- TeMPOraL 11y agoThis is one of the more insidious techniques used by pharma companies. See [0], search for "free sample". [0] - http://slatestarcodex.com/2015/02/17/pharma-virumque/ http://slatestarcodex.com/2015/02/17/pharma-virumque/
- creshal 11y ago> However ... when I was unemployed, I was very happy that my doctor had free samples from her rep of $DRUG_THAT_KEEPS_ME_ALIVE. Our pediatrician also had free samples for some of the things our kid needed. Just remember, public health care is communist! Better dead than red.
- a3n 11y agoI wonder how long it's going to take to get our heads out of our asses, calm the fuck down, and really exploit civilization's gifts to take care of ourselves and our brothers.
- Florin_Andrei 11y ago> In my clinic, I do not accept visits or items from drug reps (including glossy marketing materials, pens, etc); the only thing they can leave me is a copy of a peer-reviewed article. Thank you. This is the only rational approach.