Interesting....for U.S. posters, take a look at what big pharma pays docs

Propublica released an interesting report on what is required reporting by pharma payments that are made to physicians.

Very interesting.

http://www.propublica.org/article/profiles-of-the-top-earners-in-dollar-for-docs

My hubby showed me this last week. My neuro gets big bucks from glaxo. No surprise there. My family doctor wasn't listed.

what a suprise!!! no wonder the drs over there prescibe so many drugs!! and guess who doesnt believe in moh??????? 3 guesses yes its the drs who are getting a cut from all the drugs they precribe!

My neuro has received funds for "speaker fee" (twice, $2000 & $2300) from the company which makes the triptan I use. I asked about the triptan originally, it wasn't suggested. I was given samples and a prescription. It's pricey, of course, so I asked for a prescription for the generic and I added the OTC drug the name brand has, on my next visit.

I "sort of" wish I didn't know this.

My GP and ob/gyn are not listed.

Not every body gets MOH and I'm grateful to have a DR. who doesn't believe in cookie cutter diagnosing and will treat my pain when nothing else works.

None of my Drs were on the list and I felt relieved. Though I wondered about one who seems to always prescribe the newest and greatest (and most expensive!) when an old school generic hasn't been tried yet.

Char, your doctor (our doctor) is on the list

Cheryl

lesherb wrote:My neuro has received funds for "speaker fee" (twice, $2000 & $2300) from the company which makes the triptan I use. I asked about the triptan originally, it wasn't suggested. I was given samples and a prescription. It's pricey, of course, so I asked for a prescription for the generic and I added the OTC drug the name brand has, on my next visit.

I "sort of" wish I didn't know this.

My GP and ob/gyn are not listed.

My neuro got two payments. One for $13,250 and the other for $12,000.

I wonder what form this takes in the UK.
We wont be immune. Drug companies make big bucks out of us all.

P

Really, Cheryl? I must have gotten fat fingers and mistyped! Hmmm......

Found him. Hmmm...not much but still there.

What I find more disturbing is the psychiatrist who robbed me of two years of my life by number 1) misdiagnosing me instead of taking me off topamax and #2) overmedicating me to the point that I could not function because he just kept adding more and more meds ( anti-psychotics!) took in over $15,000 from various companies. No wonder he kept putting me on more and more. He had a vested interest.

I find this very disturbing.

All this sound very scary. Whom can you trust if you cannot trust your doctor any more?
It seems like the whole system is completely corrupt.
It is no wonder that overprescribing is so common, and that frequent reports of accidental death and addictions are always in the news. When doctor's only concern is greed, instead of well being of their patient, the system has already collapsed and is no longer working.
But this is hardly a surprise - it seems obvious to anybody from the outside world that most patients in US are overmedicated and over-treated, to a ridiculous degree. Since with private medical care/insurance money becomes the only consideartion and people's lives and their health are secondary. If ever there was a case for some form of NHS, this news cofirms it again.

i agree mini, its always so obvious seeing how much meds some of the us girls get prescribed, we KNEW the drs were more interested in getting the drugs out than treating the patient properly!!

I am going to disagree. My former neuro was not on the list and he was prescription happy (minus anything for real pain). Which in some ways was a comfort - that he wasn't getting money for meds prescribed.

I don't see how we are over medicated. In general, I feel that many of us are under-medicated. Given just enough to survive and nothing more. I'd love something more for pain but what to give a person is the question. Most doctors won't give out prescription pain meds like many of us need. Preventatives, well I've had enough to choke a goat. Granted that was the protocol the neuro followed. But I don't see that as being over-medicated, that was trying to get things to stop.

I don't see how a National Health Care System is going to help. At least those of us with private insurance (I can see the need for those who can't get it). My insurance has not denied any claim I've had for prescription medications. Given the information I know about the Health Care bill that passed , frankly I'm more afraid of it coming to be and that it is going to mess up what I already have. I don't see a real benefit to it and how it's going to help us in the long run since it is trying to mandate what private insurance can do.

Just my .02

In UK the governement negotiaties with the pharma companies prices of drugs for the whole of NHS service, so the doctors are taken out of the equasion and therefore they have no interest in prescribing one drug, rather then another, except purely on clinical basis. Aother govt organisation NICE checks how effective any new medicine is, and once recomended it goes on the list of NHS prescribed medicines.
The system is quite simple, it works well, and this also means that the prices of medicines are kept in check.

Wow, the dr who overmedicated me for years is on there. He earned 6k in 2009, and $6,300 so far this year. Kind of makes me think, "no wonder!"
My current dr. is not on there at all and that makes me feel better about him

Mini wrote:In UK the governement negotiaties with the pharma companies prices of drugs for the whole of NHS service, so the doctors are taken out of the equasion and therefore they have no interest in prescribing one drug, rather then another, except purely on clinical basis. Aother govt organisation NICE checks how effective any new medicine is, and once recomended it goes on the list of NHS prescribed medicines.
The system is quite simple, it works well, and this also means that the prices of medicines are kept in check.

So the government is practicing medicine without a license? Just how are they checking the effecacy of the drugs? Do you really believe there are no kickbacks between gov't agencies and the pharma companies?

I am positive I do NOT want the government anymore involved in my healthcare than they already are.

None of my doctors are on the list and I have several drs. I suppose that makes me an overtreated American.

I think this is a double-edged sword--maybe more of a worry if the doctor has "questionable" ethics.

Also, I don't see this as a "call" for national health care. I disagree with U.S. patients being overtreated/overmedicated.

Here's an example. One of my docs has received a good sum for consulting work for a pharma company. Out of the 6 cardiovascular medications the company makes, I've been prescribed 4.

Here's the interesting thing--all of the medications can help treat specific symptoms that cannont be treated as well by an older medication or generic.

In fact, one of the meds has a cross function for migraineurs...it's in the ARB class.

But I do see a problem with some docs and firms if they are using patient data and prescribing dosages for research purposes and not disclosing. I think this happens far more than what is required documentation by the FDA. I also thing that negative results are reported to the pharma companies, and not necessarily to the FDA.

That's the danger when a doc receives payment for consultancy.

Just how are they checking the effecacy of the drugs

As already mentioned, the clinical efficacy and the cost effectiveness of medicines are checked by scientists through research at NICE, before any new medicines are recomended for NHS use.

There is of course also an option of private medical insurance in uk, if this is your preference Porsche Fan. There is just more freedom for a patient to have a choice of treatment; NHS, or private insurance.

My question was HOW do they check? Is it by reviewing the data provided my the drug companies? Is it through their own studies? What are the guide lines for approval? You say scientists do this. Are there medical doctors for the fields in question on these review panels?

I don't see the NHS as more freedom. I see it as more control. I have to pay twice for insurance that gives me any input in my own healthcare.

I agree in some cases we over test, over medicate and treat to a point of diminished return. I just don't trust the government over doctors that are taking fees from pharmaceutical companies.

You are obviously discouraged and worried about any changes, and I am sorry to hear that, but unless you get a chance to try a different system, how can you tell which one works best? It is always better to speak from experience, otherwise how can you ever be sure what you are missing.
Obviously your current system is not working, people with no insurance are dying. living in pain, they need something, some freedom of choice - at present there is nothing for them. Nothing. Is this acceptable? I doubt it. So what is the solution?
I am not trying to convince you one way or another,and I know that it is difficult for you to imagine a completely new concept unless you have "lived it".
In uk after 60 years NHS still seems to work pretty well, and even if at times it is not perfect, you can try to make yours NHS even better. But "nothing" is not a solution, if you are sick.

If you wish to get more detailed answers to your specific questions, about reasearch etc look in at NICE it is pretty comprehensive: http://www.nice.org.uk/

Mini,

If you've only experienced NHS, then how do you know what it's like to have the other? I'm not trying to be argumentative but you are strongly in support of it and think that it is wonderful. But have you seen the other side?

Also different states do different things. The state I live in does offer health benefits for low income and folks that can't get it elsewhere (and charges a reasonable rate). Not every state does this but it means that people here have access to medical care.

Frankly, I don't want a NHS. I don't see that the government being in control of my health-care as a good thing. I look at what some posters here are forced to endure because the system is slow or medications aren't approved. I'm glad that I don't have to deal with it - it's hard enough being sick.

HeelerLady, you used the same argument I was going to. How can someone that has always lived in THAT system know it is better than ours.

I had a very rare cancer. It has no 5 year cure rate. I am 3 years out. We just found a mass. If I were in another country I wouldn't have even had this scan because I was far enough out to reduce scans and it is rare enough it has no protocol so they follow that of other cancer types. At least, that is what members from Canada and UK of the group I am in for this cancer tell us.

I admit, this is a very personal experience I am judging the system on but that is what everyone does.

Wow...the new headache specialist I'll be seeing is listed on there several times!! Holy cow! $20,000!

Mini wrote:In UK the governement negotiaties with the pharma companies prices of drugs for the whole of NHS service, so the doctors are taken out of the equasion and therefore they have no interest in prescribing one drug, rather then another, except purely on clinical basis. Aother govt organisation NICE checks how effective any new medicine is, and once recomended it goes on the list of NHS prescribed medicines. The system is quite simple, it works well, and this also means that the prices of medicines are kept in check.

Hello Mini, I think you have only just joined us, so unlike myself and others in the UK are less used to the differences between the prescribing in UK and USA.

It is good to think that the NHS is tightly governed and would hopefully prevent anything of this same nature occurring here.
However, this has a down side. Because of the governing and cost consideration we often do not get enough medication.
I was restricted when Imigran first came out. I was allowed 3 a month. Can you imagine. 3!!!
This was totally down to cost and nothing else. I needed 6 to get me through.
I had to agonise over whether the pain might be worse today, or could it be worse tomorrow or the next day...
They were menstrual so came in clusters.....

I have a lot of friends in America. Not one of them wants to go the way of this country.
I think there ought to be a useful compromise, perhaps in both countries.
I hear what you say, we can go private here....can you afford that....I sure cant.
And as I have never been able to work, I couldnt afford any health insurance either.
I am reliant on the NHS. It serves me, but I wouldnt say it serves me that well.

I have been waiting a year for a pain clinic appointment.
They have totally cocked up the referrals and without even an apology,I am just told it might be January.
That isnt even for any help. It is to see if they want to see me. THIS after chucking me off their CBT because 2 migraines meant I failed the target for appointments.....

I am grateful for the NHS. I have nothing else, but there is a LOT of room for improvement.
I guess we like what we are used to...

I do not want to get into much more of this, but I will try to respond to some of your questions concerning my experince. I have had private insurance in uk for many years as well, but recently gave it up. The reason? I've never needed to use it, so it was a waste of money.
Whenever I needed medical intervention (like CT scan recently, or operation for injury 10 years ago) I had the best treatment done under NHS. Every doctor here knows that clinically best hospitals in UK are not the private but NHS hospitals.
This has been also the same experince with my friends who still have private insurance -when they need some proper medical care they might see specialist privately in the first place, but they end up going to NHS becauce it offers best care.

I have access to my NHS neurologist when I need to see him, I also have as many Imigrans as I need from my GP surgery since I order my medicines on the internet and collect when I need them - I never had any limits of how many Imigrans I can have, since it first came out.

I suppose you are unlucky with your doctor, but if your GP is not happy to prescribe Imigran it is nothing to do NHS, but because they might suspect rebound situation. Changing your doctor might be best solution.

No, I am not saying that NHS is perfect but it works well for most people, and we never need to fear that we cannot afford money for medicines, or cannot afford to see a doctor when we need to.
I can only talk about my personal experince.