Doctors prescribing Meds just for profit?

reply to post by kaleshchand


May I ask where you found out the cost? I'm going to try and find the numbers for imports of US, i'll post them here if I find them.

reply to post by nanny


I use to take meds for Asthma, but they had to keep changing my medication, since nothing helped. I was fed up with this and just stopped taking everything completely, it's been about 5 years since my last attack.

Doctors are taught and are obligated to prescribe to you, in their opinion, the BEST medication for your condition. Since they are bombarded with representatives from various drug companies, generic medications

I have Sarcoidosis with co-morbid fibromyalgia.

For the fibro pain the doctors first gave me amitriptyline a generic Antidepressent.
I took it for 6 months after the first 2 months and it did nothing the doctors kept telling me if i would just keep taking it it would start to work.

After 4 months i started to have prostate problems and after 6 months my head felt like it was stuffed full of cotton to the point it was getting unsafe for me to drive.
I stopped taking the amitriptyline.

Then they tried Prozac(antidepressant) and after two weeks i had to quit taking that because of the same problem.

The doctors told me there was no other drugs that would work.

This i knew was untrue because i had taken vicodin for dental work and it worked for the fibro.

About the same time i got hold of some Gabapentin under the table and tried it for a couple days and found it also worked.

I told my primary care doctor the next visit that i wanted ether vicodin or gabapentin or i was going over her head to the VA.

I got the Gabapentin and have been on it since and feeling a lot better and can sleep at night.

The strange part is Gabapentin is not approved for treating fibro.
A improved form of Gabapentin called Lyrica is approved but is not generic.

The same company made both drugs but since Gabapentin is generic and lower priced and any drug company can make it the company that held the patent came out with Lyrica instead of testing if Gabapentin worked for fibro.
www.crpsadvisory.com...

I have had one doctor try to switch me to Cymbalta for the fibro and i told him where to stick it.
No more antidepressants for me after what i went through with the first two.

Drug companies do not push the antidepressants for fibro.
Its the insurance industry that pushes them for fibro because they are cheap. They don't care that they don't work for many.

reply to post by ANNED


Thanks for the insight

The strange part is Gabapentin is not approved for treating fibro. A improved form of Gabapentin called Lyrica is approved but is not generic. The same company made both drugs but since Gabapentin is generic and lower priced and any drug company can make it the company that held the patent came out with Lyrica instead of testing if Gabapentin worked for fibro. www.crpsadvisory.com...

Makes me wonder how many lesser known drugs out there get the job done better than the more mainstream medications? Well it's good you found something that worked, even if you had to beat some heads to get it lol

reply to post by Nobama


The truth about the medical community and the wedding with pharma is no something that can be ignore for the rest of us.

Yes, the big problem is that believe it or not doctors have not choice, see, is a big pressure coming from big pharma toward doctors today, it is known that doctors that do not agree with promoting big pharma drugs goes into list of undesirables making very hard for the doctors in the list to thrive.

Money is a big thing in this nation and drug is a big business, In my case I already let my doctor know to no even push medications that I don't need because I will not take them.

Before I got to my doctor as the last resort I research on the conditions I am experiencing and what drugs are the least to cause side effects.

Never go to a doctor without been well informed on a condition, never tell the doctor either how to diagnosed or prescribe just tell that you are sensitive to prescription drugs and have to be very careful what you take.

After all the last thing a doctor wants is your death in their hands, but big pharma careless. . .

reply to post by marg6043

After all the last thing a doctor wants is your death in their hands, but big pharma careless. . .

That line holds alot of weight to what I currently believe, thanks for the post

bump for interest

also once I get back from the doctors I have a feeling there will be a much needed rant.

Reminds me of the time I went to my doctor and he told me my blood pressure and cholesteral was sky high and if I didn't start taking the pills he was going to prescribe for me I'd have a major heart attack within five years. Although he did tell me to quit smoking he never said anything about changing my diet or getting any exercise, just to take the pills. When I asked him how long I needed to take them he looked up at me and said, "For the rest of your life." I honestly wondered at the time if he was getting paid kick backs for sending people to the pharmacy for the rest of their lives.

That was about seven years ago, I never even finished the first bottle of pills I got and I never had my big heart attack. I took a less stressful job down at work and quit going to McDonalds every other day. I think eating right and getting of the couch does more for your health than anything, then again, who makes any money prescribing that?

reply to post by korath


My mom was diagnosed with high blood pressure, and instead of her doctor telling her to change up her diet and start working out more, he prescribed pills just like in your case, and sent her on her way. She of course didn't take kindly to this and never filled the prescription. Now her current doctor not only told her to start eating right, but also included a steady workout plan for her, his exact words were "pills should be a last resort if nothing else helps".

Originally posted by korath
"For the rest of your life." I honestly wondered at the time if he was getting paid kick backs for sending people to the pharmacy for the rest of their lives.

Yes they do, when they promote big pharma specific drugs and prescribe them they get from free vacations to incentives, they also get to be in the "good doctors list of pharma".

Right now big pharma started to target practitioner nurses that can prescribe drugs, with the same incentives as doctors, more often than not you will be seen by a practitioner nurse in most occasions, first, when the health insurance reform kicks in full gear, that can become the norm under Medicaid and Medicare.

reply to post by marg6043


That's a scary thought, I'm not in anyway saying what you just said is false, but a link to something of what you claimed would be a interesting read.

Ha ha I thought this thread at first, said docs prescribe "mods" ....lol yeah.

It is almost common these days that doctors are more inclined to use pharmaceuticals than holistic, since that only treats the symptoms, instead of actual cause/s.

So, I'm not surprised, and I am betting many others are not.

Welcome to the world of commercial interest.

reply to post by meathed


Probably because their starting salary after residency is about 160k a year..
I'll be buying a nice car too when I make that much.

reply to post by ADVISOR


I'm hardly surprised..
I wouldn't go to a doctor if I wanted folk medicine.
You can go to a DO for that. If you're going to a doctor and are sick, expect to be prescribed pharmaceuticals.
And learn about your medications.. if you don't think they are safe, don't take them.

Originally posted by Nobama
reply to post by kaleshchand

 

May I ask where you found out the cost? I'm going to try and find the numbers for imports of US, i'll post them here if I find them.

I am a pharmacist by education and I have a pharmaceutical Wholesale and manufacturing company (though I don't manufacture yet, I have the license to do so). I just contacted the factories making the medications with a scan of my wholesale license and they were more than willing to send me prices.

These are mid market rates by the way, depending on where its bought from and the quantity the price can be a little lower or a little higher.

You could try contacting some manufactures whose medicines are sold in your country and ask them directly, Not everyone will tell you without a scan of a license but some may, or try befriending a pharmacist.

Originally posted by Miraj
reply to post by ADVISOR

 

I'm hardly surprised..
I wouldn't go to a doctor if I wanted folk medicine.
You can go to a DO for that. If you're going to a doctor and are sick, expect to be prescribed pharmaceuticals.
And learn about your medications.. if you don't think they are safe, don't take them.

A search on drugs.com will usually give good insight.
You can do a search with the prescription paper before getting the drugs themselves. If the papers are difficult to read as they are here, try reading it letter by letter.

The problem with "alternative medicine" is that they are not regulated and not tested. 95% of that stuff is quackery just like the supposed "big pharma".

reply to post by korath

How many people do you think your doctor has seen that have very high cholesterol, blood pressure and are very overweight?

Probably more than you can imagine. Most doctors are probably desensitized due to patient apathy. It's easier to just give the pills than try to get someone to change when you know in most cases people won't change their life style.

I believe all Pharmaceuticals should be Outlawed and all Doctors who prescribe these killers should be stripped of their medical license.

Why?

The Pharmaceutical companies along with the corrupt FDA push drugs through without proper testing. People die every year simply because the drug wasn't tested for 15 years in a variety of people with a variety of conditions and other drugs to discover drug interactions and incompatibility with different brain chemistries - before it was released to the public I'm talking Thousands of people each year.

Not to mention use of Pharmaceuticals build up in your system over years and cause a toxic situation that poisons your brain and body till it kills it! This is a Known fact that happens with long term use of all Pharmaceuticals.

If any doctor tells you you HAVE to take any drug for the rest of your life - he just killed you!

You say, But if they did that there would not be these drugs available that might help some people.

Yeah, So What? If it's dangerous Don't Release it! Do you want to know you took a drug that helped YOU but KILLED someone else? How would You feel about that? Right thinking people would be horrified! - Trouble is too many people are heartless and take the attitude " It helped Me so i don't care who else it hurt."

Doctors take an Oath to " at least do no harm" yet they break this oath every time the prescribe a drug the can harm someone.

If I installed a faulty thermostat on your boiler unit and it blew up and killed you, I'd be held accountable! Doctors should be no different.

Originally posted by ChrisF231
The problem with "alternative medicine" is that they are not regulated and not tested. 95% of that stuff is quackery just like the supposed "big pharma".

BS. Not 95 percent. A lot of it, yes, but most of it is good. I have studied health and nutrition for over 20 years from the standpoint of what makes a body healthy and I can assure you the real herbs, healing foods & other natural healing means Do work - Most of the time they work better than the Pharmaceuticals with no side effects!