FORA: Have Profits Corrupted US Healthcare?
"The entire medical system is corrupt. Start at the head of the NIH to the deans of the medical schools, to the heads of departments - they're all out there cause their department does better as the drug companies kick in $100-200 million."
"Old people don't need to take a pill, they need to take a walk."
"Medical illiteracy kills more people than cancer or heart [disease]."
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(TL;DR version: I completely agree with Dr. Walter Bortz of the Stanford University School of Medicine and have similar views about Big Pharma overstepping its bounds.)
I agree completely with this guy. Big Pharma has swinging far too much influence on all levels of government and healthcare to suit their interests and the interests of shareholders than they should. Though this is in the US, expenditures in prescription drugs in Canada have tripled in their share of the GDP and continues to grow. That means less money for education and the environment, which also ties into health.
No amount of healthcare can help someone who cannot access higher education needed to get a decent job and provide the healthy food and clean shelter for his or her family - or someone who made the ill-informed decision to not eat everyday cause their fad diet said so. No amount of healthcare will protect you from the suffocating smog and chemicals in the air that absorb into your skin, the extreme weather and its temperatures, or the waste that gets into the water. It's a diminishing return on investment when it comes to healthcare; you can only put so much before it starts taking away from other important sectors due to losses from corruption and waste.
One of the comments raises an interesting point:
"You are completely ignorant to the sad economics of our times if? you think that big pharma and all the insurance companies and lobbyist groups aren't contributing to and affecting the medical illiteracy of the US population. Through relentless TV advertising alone they have completely bastardized the doctor-patient role for society. They don't want doctors to consult with you about your health in relation to Condition X, they'd rather design a pill then have you go to the doctor and ask for it."
Many docs may be annoyed when every patient brings in a laundry list of "stupid questions" for himself and his friend that he brought along without an appointment. And when the patient skips all consulting and just asks for x drug because that commercial on TV said, "Ask your doctor!" But with the way things are now, they are going to see a lot more of it. When we set aside more money for people to attain higher education and medical literacy or train more doctors to educate the population rather than dumping it into a black hole of inefficiencies (part of which are the greedy drug companies) within the system, there will be a lot less of this non-sense and revolving door treatment in the office.
I realize now that back then, when those suits come in and throw around gift cards and tickets to concerts where the money comes from. In an oversimplification, it's self-bribery. I have had my qualms with drug companies for many years now and I'm glad many people higher up in influence are speaking out. If I end up working for one, well, I'll just feel like how Marshall felt when he worked for Goliath National Bank on How I Met Your Mother: terrible about myself for selling out.
For me personally, I'm all for prevention just like Dr. Bortz up there. Get physically active now and I won't have to deal with drug regimens consisting of 10+ pills a day or being unable to climb stairs and having to burden a caregiver/family member.
"If [people] knew how to take care of themselves - it's not rocket science - we can live to be 100 if we but honor our genetic endowment."
Globe and Mail: Pursuing a Dream After Corporate Life
Stories like these inspire me. From the Globe and Mail:
The social clock does not exist for a guy like me in this day and age. Maybe it does for the women biologically (and even hearing that statement from someone, for me, borders on sexism). But the clock does not exist in my mind for me and I must be resilient yet understanding of those who find relief in projecting their insecurities unto me, hoping I fail as well.
If he can do it at 51 (despite the controversy surrounding the subsequent use of taxpayers' dollars and taking up a spot of a younger applicant - oh wait, that would be ageism), then I must make sure everything I do furthers myself along the path to what I feel in my heart. I don't want to follow another path regretting it all or feeling I settled and look back feeling like this when I'm 50. He's lucky to even start again at 50. I may not.
Drug Ads
I believe it's Canadian law that drug commercials can say either what's being treated or the name of the drug but not both. So while watching an American stream of a Blue Jays game ( @ Phillies) on ESPN, I see an ad that would be illegal in Canada. It mentions the disease/condition and urges the viewer to "ask your doctor" about specific drug X.
Indeed, patients will often insist on the new expensive drug they saw on TV while older cheaper drugs exist. I understand now why such a law exists in Canada. If more patients knew about expensive drug X for condition Y, and with the way the system works in Canada, cost of treatment goes up and taxpayers ultimately will bear the brunt of the increases as demand for cheaper and just as effective drugs decreases. By limiting the effectiveness of marketing, spending on marketing goes down and drugs are cheaper for all of us. Good thinking Canada.
America right now is looking into the influence drug ads. But as I watch this stream, EVERY commercial break has a specific drug for heart disease, erectile dysfunction, restless leg syndrome, and et cetera and a laundry list of side-effects are read out over images of happy people. Sigh. One area Obama can look at in healthcare reform I guess.
