4 ms·

I find these utterly idiotic: you are telling patients about side effects of some drug with pretty pictures and a pleasant voice but only a doctor can prescribe

I find these utterly idiotic: you are telling patients about side effects of some drug with pretty pictures and a pleasant voice but only a doctor can prescribe them and you would assume understand the side effects and contraindications. What is the point? Other than obviously make drug companies more money.

noxToken 10y ago
That is the point. Drugs x, y, and z are all the market. They do the same thing with the same side-effects for the same cost. An ailment that the drug cures pops up in someone's life. When they go to the doctor, they can ask specifically for drug z, because they saw drug z in a commercial. If our drugs, for all intents and purposes, are the exact same, then there is no point in a doctor prescribing drug x or y when the patient specifically asked for drug z.
- randcraw 10y ago
  Any two drugs are most definitely not the same unless one is a generic of the other. And even then, because different manufacturers package drugs differently, this can slightly affect a compound's delivery. Even when two drugs use the same mechanism of action (an agonist or antogist toward the same receptor active in the synthesis of a target protein), different generations of drugs often produce significantly different pharmacodynamic profiles of efficacy and toxicity that affect people differently. A good example are the diabetes drugs Actos vs Avandia -- same MoA (glitazones), but the latter has proven to be toxic. Fact is, no two drugs are the same, unless they both do nothing.
  - noxToken 10y ago
    > If our drugs, for all intents and purposes, are the exact same This include the above. The point was that the drugs are the same in every way possible. Although this is most certainly not the case for drugs x, y and z, our example hinges on them being the same. Otherwise the doctor always should prescribe the best medication for the given situation.
  - alkonaut 10y ago
    If there are multiple treatments/drugs that achieve the same thing then the job of the SG is to recommend which to use. Usage of anything else should be viewed with a healthy amount of suspicion.
SilasX 10y ago
Because, as shocking and offensive as it may sound, not every doctor is 100% diligent about researching a patient's options. They also may not have sufficient incentive to care about whether a non-life-threatening condition is actually cured.
Symmetry 10y ago
Not everybody is going to tell their doctor that they're impotent or whatever unless they have some idea that there's a pill that cures that. People don't even necessarily have regular checkups if there's nothing they want a doctor to fix.

noxToken 10y ago

That is the point. Drugs x, y, and z are all the market. They do the same thing with the same side-effects for the same cost. An ailment that the drug cures pops up in someone's life. When they go to the doctor, they can ask specifically for drug z, because they saw drug z in a commercial. If our drugs, for all intents and purposes, are the exact same, then there is no point in a doctor prescribing drug x or y when the patient specifically asked for drug z.

randcraw 10y ago
Any two drugs are most definitely not the same unless one is a generic of the other. And even then, because different manufacturers package drugs differently, this can slightly affect a compound's delivery. Even when two drugs use the same mechanism of action (an agonist or antogist toward the same receptor active in the synthesis of a target protein), different generations of drugs often produce significantly different pharmacodynamic profiles of efficacy and toxicity that affect people differently. A good example are the diabetes drugs Actos vs Avandia -- same MoA (glitazones), but the latter has proven to be toxic. Fact is, no two drugs are the same, unless they both do nothing.
- noxToken 10y ago
  > If our drugs, for all intents and purposes, are the exact same This include the above. The point was that the drugs are the same in every way possible. Although this is most certainly not the case for drugs x, y and z, our example hinges on them being the same. Otherwise the doctor always should prescribe the best medication for the given situation.
- alkonaut 10y ago
  If there are multiple treatments/drugs that achieve the same thing then the job of the SG is to recommend which to use. Usage of anything else should be viewed with a healthy amount of suspicion.

SilasX 10y ago

Because, as shocking and offensive as it may sound, not every doctor is 100% diligent about researching a patient's options. They also may not have sufficient incentive to care about whether a non-life-threatening condition is actually cured.

Symmetry 10y ago

Not everybody is going to tell their doctor that they're impotent or whatever unless they have some idea that there's a pill that cures that. People don't even necessarily have regular checkups if there's nothing they want a doctor to fix.