8 ms·

Advertising includes drug samples given to doctors, which many/most of them give to patients who can't afford said drugs. How many of them are you willing to c

by anamax 5y ago

Advertising includes drug samples given to doctors, which many/most of them give to patients who can't afford said drugs. How many of them are you willing to cut off?

hypertele-Xii 5y ago
Free samples over R&D? In what world does that sound... sound?
Afton 5y ago
In order to make the drug more affordable? I mean... all of them? Maybe I'm not understanding your point?
Retric 5y ago
Those free samples very much make treatment less affordable. They don’t need to hand out samples when their treatment is the only option, they need to advertise to out compete generics. It’s shockingly effective, look at say prescriptions for patented opioids vs the vast numbers of equally effective generics. Doctors are extremely susceptible to advertising just like most people, the difference is it’s not their money being spent.
- emodendroket 5y ago
  In the case of doctors it's more high-touch than plain old ads anyway. The representative stops by and chats them up, maybe they get some sponsored continuing education (which is of course designed to push expensive products), etc.
  - catawbasam 5y ago
    And the reps are often smoking hot, so docs don't mind making a bit of time for conversation.
    - geoduck14 5y ago
      Fun fact: Female secretaries (or other "gatekeepers") are less likely to let hot female sales people back to the doctor.
- refurb 5y ago
  Huh? Per unit dispensing of generic opioids dwarfs branded opioids.
  - Retric 5y ago
    “Clinical studies comparing the response and side effects of various opioids have not been able to show robust differences between drugs.” So, it’s not a question of which is prescribed more, it’s a question of why branded opioids are ever prescribed. We aren’t talking about a ~100 Billion dollars of accidental waste, it took a lot of work to extract that from the general public.
    - refurb 5y ago
      I mean the biggest opioid sales were OxyContin and the argument there was the time release which wasn’t available in a generic. As a part of my job I’ve talked to insurance companies and they aren’t willing to pay for branded pain relief drugs unless there is some differentiating value.
      - Retric 5y ago
        https://www.fda.gov/drugs/information-drug-class/timeline-selected-fda-activities-and-significant-events-addressing-opioid-misuse-and-abuse https://www.fda.gov/drugs/information-drug-class/timeline-se... 1987 “May: MS Contin, (morphine sulfate) approved; first formulation of an opioid pain medicine that allowed dosing every 12 hours instead of every 4 to 6 hours.” 1990 “August: Duragesic (fentanyl transdermal system) approved; first formulation of an opioid pain medicine in a patch (sometimes referred to as a “skin patch”) that is changed every 3 days.” 1995 “December: OxyContin (oxycodone controlled-release) approved; first formulation of oxycodone that allowed dosing every 12 hours instead of every 4 to 6 hours.”
emodendroket 5y ago
I find myself very skeptical that "free samples of really expensive drugs given to indigent patients" constitute very much of the budget there.
catlikesshrimp 5y ago
BS, doctors give the samples to friends and family, and some to patients. Doctors can't know a patient is poor. In private practice, the doctor assumes the patient isn't poor.
- nradov 5y ago
  Doctors usually pretty well know which patients are poor based on how they dress and speak.
ygjb 5y ago
As an alternative, you could have a single payer, public health care option that would be significantly cheaper than the current shit show that the US system has (modulo the small percentage of Americans who have had a genuinely positive experience with the syst as opposed to the Kafkaesque nightmares that are the more common take.)
short12 5y ago
All of them. Having some drugs laying around and handing them out as medication is wildly irresponsible
- jdlshore 5y ago
  That's not how it works. The doctor prescribes the drug and gives the patient the free sample. What, did you think they were in a "take one" candy jar?

by anamax 5y ago

Advertising includes drug samples given to doctors, which many/most of them give to patients who can't afford said drugs. How many of them are you willing to cut off?

hypertele-Xii 5y ago

Free samples over R&D? In what world does that sound... sound?

Afton 5y ago

In order to make the drug more affordable? I mean... all of them? Maybe I'm not understanding your point?

Retric 5y ago

Those free samples very much make treatment less affordable. They don’t need to hand out samples when their treatment is the only option, they need to advertise to out compete generics. It’s shockingly effective, look at say prescriptions for patented opioids vs the vast numbers of equally effective generics. Doctors are extremely susceptible to advertising just like most people, the difference is it’s not their money being spent.

emodendroket 5y ago
In the case of doctors it's more high-touch than plain old ads anyway. The representative stops by and chats them up, maybe they get some sponsored continuing education (which is of course designed to push expensive products), etc.
- catawbasam 5y ago
  And the reps are often smoking hot, so docs don't mind making a bit of time for conversation.
  - geoduck14 5y ago
    Fun fact: Female secretaries (or other "gatekeepers") are less likely to let hot female sales people back to the doctor.
refurb 5y ago
Huh? Per unit dispensing of generic opioids dwarfs branded opioids.
- Retric 5y ago
  “Clinical studies comparing the response and side effects of various opioids have not been able to show robust differences between drugs.” So, it’s not a question of which is prescribed more, it’s a question of why branded opioids are ever prescribed. We aren’t talking about a ~100 Billion dollars of accidental waste, it took a lot of work to extract that from the general public.
  - refurb 5y ago
    I mean the biggest opioid sales were OxyContin and the argument there was the time release which wasn’t available in a generic. As a part of my job I’ve talked to insurance companies and they aren’t willing to pay for branded pain relief drugs unless there is some differentiating value.
    - Retric 5y ago
      https://www.fda.gov/drugs/information-drug-class/timeline-selected-fda-activities-and-significant-events-addressing-opioid-misuse-and-abuse https://www.fda.gov/drugs/information-drug-class/timeline-se... 1987 “May: MS Contin, (morphine sulfate) approved; first formulation of an opioid pain medicine that allowed dosing every 12 hours instead of every 4 to 6 hours.” 1990 “August: Duragesic (fentanyl transdermal system) approved; first formulation of an opioid pain medicine in a patch (sometimes referred to as a “skin patch”) that is changed every 3 days.” 1995 “December: OxyContin (oxycodone controlled-release) approved; first formulation of oxycodone that allowed dosing every 12 hours instead of every 4 to 6 hours.”

emodendroket 5y ago

I find myself very skeptical that "free samples of really expensive drugs given to indigent patients" constitute very much of the budget there.

catlikesshrimp 5y ago

BS, doctors give the samples to friends and family, and some to patients. Doctors can't know a patient is poor. In private practice, the doctor assumes the patient isn't poor.

nradov 5y ago
Doctors usually pretty well know which patients are poor based on how they dress and speak.

ygjb 5y ago

As an alternative, you could have a single payer, public health care option that would be significantly cheaper than the current shit show that the US system has (modulo the small percentage of Americans who have had a genuinely positive experience with the syst as opposed to the Kafkaesque nightmares that are the more common take.)

short12 5y ago

All of them. Having some drugs laying around and handing them out as medication is wildly irresponsible

jdlshore 5y ago
That's not how it works. The doctor prescribes the drug and gives the patient the free sample. What, did you think they were in a "take one" candy jar?