[Winona Online Democracy]
That article didn't say all pharm reps were cheerleaders. It says that drug companies actively recruit cheerleaders to be pharm reps - regardless of their actual degree - because of the personality traits they bring to the job.
I believe a very related matter is how much money is spent on prescription drug advertising. I believe it should be illegal in this country to advertise prescription drugs. We all pay for those ads when we buy the medicine. The decision on what drug to use should be a medical decision and not based on how convincing the ads are. Doctors must be overwhelmed with patients pressuring them to prescribe the drug their patient is enamored with due to ads even though they recommend a different one. If pharm reps do their job like those ads -- trying to push a certain drug rather than just selling what the doctors want -- I consider it no more than highlighting the cheerleader as pect of the job and downplaying the professional health care aspects. What drug I take is NOT the same as what car I buy or what computer I buy. It is very different and should not be treated the same because it is bad for my health and bad for the country's economy. It is one of the reasons for our sky rocketing health care costs in this country. It needs to stop and I believe one necessary place is to outlaw prescription drug advertising.
Craig Brooks
"C. E. Woodford" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
I believe a very related matter is how much money is spent on prescription drug advertising. I believe it should be illegal in this country to advertise prescription drugs. We all pay for those ads when we buy the medicine. The decision on what drug to use should be a medical decision and not based on how convincing the ads are. Doctors must be overwhelmed with patients pressuring them to prescribe the drug their patient is enamored with due to ads even though they recommend a different one. If pharm reps do their job like those ads -- trying to push a certain drug rather than just selling what the doctors want -- I consider it no more than highlighting the cheerleader as pect of the job and downplaying the professional health care aspects. What drug I take is NOT the same as what car I buy or what computer I buy. It is very different and should not be treated the same because it is bad for my health and bad for the country's economy. It is one of the reasons for our sky rocketing health care costs in this country. It needs to stop and I believe one necessary place is to outlaw prescription drug advertising.
Craig Brooks
"C. E. Woodford" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
[Winona Online Democracy]I find the NY Times piece interesting( although I don't have time to read the full article which I believe may say a bit more than the few paragraphs lifted here). I have a neighbor and another friend whom both happen to be Pharm reps for different companie s. I have to disagree with the characterization of pharm reps as "cheerleaders" and such. I believe that to be a VERY broad generalization of the profession. My neighbor, for example, deals with orthapedic surgeons, he actually sits in on surgery procedures from time to time to assist/watch/whatever(I don't have a med background nor am I going to pretend to). He is HIGHLY schooled and most certainly would take offense to this broad sweeping characterization( I must keep in mind here that I am dealing with the NY times, one of the most leftist newspapers in the nation...Good offbeat articles if you stay away from the political hacks who run it however) of the Pharm rep industry. My other friend who is a re p for Merck(sp?) isn't overly attractive (no offense if you are reading this Julie) and works her butt off traveling on the road. Does she glad hand people and buy lunches/dinners? Sure, no more than a sales rep from TRW does to a buyer for GM or Chrysler. I certai nly believe that health care should be overhauled, do we however have the right to tell drug companies what they should profit? Don't they rely on profits from the western world to fund the development of future drugs?( yes they do) Don't they also use that profit so that they may also sell it to third world countries at a deeply discounted price?(again, yes) and do they have PACs in Washington? of course, every major industry that does business in this country has people spending ungodly amounts of cash on pols in Washington, That, unfortunately, is how things get done there whether we like it or not. I think we should take a good look at the pharm industry from a different angle before we chastise them for making pr ofits here in the USA, this is after all a free-market economy is it not?
Yahoo! Music Unlimited - Access over 1 million songs. Try it free._______________________________________________
This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy
All messages must be signed by the senders actual name.
No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list.
To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit
http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona
Any problems or suggestions can be directed to
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
If you want help on how to contact elected officials, go to the Contact page at
http://www.winonaonlinedemocracy.org
<(©¿©)>
_______________________________________________ This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy All messages must be signed by the senders actual name. No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list. To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona Any problems or suggestions can be directed to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] If you want help on how to contact elected officials, go to the Contact page at http://www.winonaonlinedemocracy.org
