4 ms·

This is so removed from reality to the point that it’s hilarious. Doctors evil. Doctors bad. Doctors corrupt. Doctors rich. That psychiatrist in the article sur

This is so removed from reality to the point that it’s hilarious. Doctors evil. Doctors bad. Doctors corrupt. Doctors rich. That psychiatrist in the article sure must have been bribed to prescribe those 30-year-old drugs, right? There’s this thing called evidence-based medicine, go educate yourself.

marcinzm 6y ago
I mean, there's a reason pharmaceutical companies in the US spend $20 billion a year marketing to physicians and it's not because it doesn't work. Doctors in the end are human and as capable of being influenced and biased and taking shortcuts as any other person. That doesn't mean they're evil, just human.
- mirthflat83 6y ago
  Please comment your estimate on how much those prescriptions make up compared to the total prescriptions that those doctors prescribe, because whatever you type, it will be very off.
  - marcinzm 6y ago
    I mean, you're just spewing insults at people instead of providing any numbers or facts. Clearly you don't want to have a discussion or educate anyone but just want to find reasons to insult people.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
- conductr 6y ago
  A big chunk of that $20B is on high cost ads to the general public, which doesn’t occur in many other parts of the world. It’s a backwards system when a patient is told to ask their doctor for a prescription to a medication by the company that manufactures said medication.
  - overscore 6y ago
    Yes, one of the few culture shocks when I lived in America was pharmaceutical advertising to the public. Another was constant political advertising on TV.
    - jacobr1 6y ago
      It is also a source of culture shock for Americans like me who visit friends and relatives that watch television. I mean, I watch netflix, but haven't ever had a cable subscription, and while I have a digital antena, I pretty much never use it. Visiting a home where the TV is on constantly is shocking, with all the ads and the viewpoints presented. It really shows how much the media fracturing is helping drive the political divide in the country too. I can't really imagine having those messages constantly pounded into my head.
  - marcinzm 6y ago
    No, that $20 billion is ONLY for doctor marketing. There's an additional $10 billion on top of that spent on patient advertising/marketing. edit: There's a whole industry around providing pharma companies better tools to influence doctors. I believe the industry name for this part of pharma companies is Medical Affairs so feel free to google the tooling being offered.
cestith 6y ago
Nobody has to be evil or bad to read the white papers presented by their vendors rather than doing independent research. A doctor's job is not to figure out the best possible treatment for each patient, as nice as that sounds. It's to improve the life enough of enough people given the time available. If four drugs are approximately equivalent don't blame your doctor if you get the one that's only 90% as effective in your particular case.

marcinzm 6y ago

I mean, there's a reason pharmaceutical companies in the US spend $20 billion a year marketing to physicians and it's not because it doesn't work. Doctors in the end are human and as capable of being influenced and biased and taking shortcuts as any other person. That doesn't mean they're evil, just human.

mirthflat83 6y ago
Please comment your estimate on how much those prescriptions make up compared to the total prescriptions that those doctors prescribe, because whatever you type, it will be very off.
- marcinzm 6y ago
  I mean, you're just spewing insults at people instead of providing any numbers or facts. Clearly you don't want to have a discussion or educate anyone but just want to find reasons to insult people.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
conductr 6y ago
A big chunk of that $20B is on high cost ads to the general public, which doesn’t occur in many other parts of the world. It’s a backwards system when a patient is told to ask their doctor for a prescription to a medication by the company that manufactures said medication.
- overscore 6y ago
  Yes, one of the few culture shocks when I lived in America was pharmaceutical advertising to the public. Another was constant political advertising on TV.
  - jacobr1 6y ago
    It is also a source of culture shock for Americans like me who visit friends and relatives that watch television. I mean, I watch netflix, but haven't ever had a cable subscription, and while I have a digital antena, I pretty much never use it. Visiting a home where the TV is on constantly is shocking, with all the ads and the viewpoints presented. It really shows how much the media fracturing is helping drive the political divide in the country too. I can't really imagine having those messages constantly pounded into my head.
- marcinzm 6y ago
  No, that $20 billion is ONLY for doctor marketing. There's an additional $10 billion on top of that spent on patient advertising/marketing. edit: There's a whole industry around providing pharma companies better tools to influence doctors. I believe the industry name for this part of pharma companies is Medical Affairs so feel free to google the tooling being offered.

cestith 6y ago

Nobody has to be evil or bad to read the white papers presented by their vendors rather than doing independent research. A doctor's job is not to figure out the best possible treatment for each patient, as nice as that sounds. It's to improve the life enough of enough people given the time available. If four drugs are approximately equivalent don't blame your doctor if you get the one that's only 90% as effective in your particular case.