ahrp.org — The revolt began when a first year medical student "grew wary" when a professor promoted cholesterol drugs and "seemed to belittle a student who asked about side effects." He later discovered that the professor, a full-time Harvard Medical faculty member, was a paid consultant to 10 drug companies, including manufacturers of cholesterol drugs.
Apr 19, 2009 View in Crawl 4
dixandbubApr 19, 2009
Its ironic that everyone is going after big pharma for trying to bribe physicians. But there are many new rules that limit the amount of "free stuff" that can be given. The days of lavish dinners, trips and gifts are long gone. But it is OK for Goldman Sachs and other special interests to give our "representatives" millions of dollars with no strings attached. A physician might consider ordering a name brand medication if he is unscrupulous. A politician might give the banks, oh I don't know, $10,000,000,000,000.But I guess they would like to keep everyone focused on little things so we don't see our future mortgaged and the US become the next sub-prime borrower.
spinningheadApr 20, 2009
Obviously, dancantone is overreacting, but there are plenty of examples of them pushing new (non-generic) drugs that are less effective and have more side-effects than the older drugs. Why? Profit.It used to be guys were pulled from med schools to be drug reps. Now they have been recruiting former cheerleaders. No, I'm not kidding. <a class="user" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/28/business/28cheer.html">http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/28/business/28cheer ...</a>
Closed AccountApr 20, 2009
The poor ethics and lack of morality that is omnipresent in American business, and for that matter, any entity that offers the potential for personal wealth, power or fame, has a host of causes. The culpability starts with parents shirking, ignoring or sidestepping their responsibilities to their children. Religion and education are the secondary, great purveyors of high-minded ideals but lack the means or will to convey a proper message. Children and students are supposed to be continuously reinforced with necessary social mores like courtesy, good manners, the Golden Rule and gentility. A large portion of the last generation to receive a modicum of this civilized behavior missed it because parents are lazy, educational systems have become lax or hogtied and religion is fading.The last opportunity to instill morality and more importantly ethics lies with the secondary educational system or "higher education". The education of students in all fields has been so overcome with the technical revolution and the flood of new facts in every field that there is barely enough time to educate students adequately to meet the challenges of their chosen field. The preoccupation of higher education systems has been with conveying technical data. There is not enough time time to answer the question, "Even though we can, should we?". This lack of training in ethics and morality from an early age through the installation of powerful minds into the adult world has led to some potentially disastrous consequences.Money.You can't eat it. You can't wear it. It has no intrinsic value. It's unattractive, dirty, difficult to manage and requires sacrifice to collect. Despite its villification, it is still sought after with a rabid intensity that no other item in the mind of any man or woman can match or overcome. It is thought of as evil and pernicious but it is the single most sought after thing on earth.The only checks on the intensity for collecting wealth for power, hedonistic pleasure, power, status and power are those principles of ethics and morality that were supposed to be drummed into you by your parents, your religion and your teachers. Today's CEOs, Boards of Directors, Executive Management, and now College Professors are glaring examples of the failure of those who were responsible to shape our minds and souls.To the parents: Shame on you. Courtesy, gentility and manners ARE important!To the religions: Shame on you. You have given generations over to the worst traits of humanity by your hypocrisy, intractibility, and failure to connect to modern society.To the schools (most importantly to the institutions of higher education): Shame on you. You are the worst offenders of all. You are supposedly professional educators whom we entrust our children to. You are the final instructors to leave a measure of civilized behavior as guide for future adults. You are the bastions of education and the founts of knowledge. America's dire straits are finally, finally in your lap for your failure.If America and the world are to even survive, the humans we rear, train and educate are going to have to be much, much better than those we see now. Stop mucking about and get to it.
spinningheadApr 20, 2009
A huge amount of research funding still comes from the government and much of the profits are put into advertising drugs, which should be illegal again. Its also not the guys in lab coats making all the money,
masamunecyrusApr 22, 2009
caferrell makes a point and a freer market for drugs is something I like to see. The #1 reason that people say that drugs should be controlled and overseen by the FDA is because people want to be 100% certain that their drugs are safe, have undergone rigorous testing, and have not been manufactured in countries with dubious safety records (China), but I personally believe that such a notion is untrue. Casting aside arguments over corruption and whether or not the FDA really cares more about safety or money, every other industry in the world has done fine creating standards and seals of quality entirely independent of government. When you build a skyscraper, you don't have to find a Federal Department of Architecture-approved engineer; when you get your house wired, you don't have to find a Federal Department of Electrical Engineering-certified electrician; and when McDonald's puts a new item on their menu, they don't need the go-ahead of the FDA -- all of these industries are required to get some kind of certificate or undergo occasional inspections, and beyond that they self-regulate through non-governmental standards organizations. Medicine should be the same.
neticmanApr 22, 2009
This teacher was an exception, not the rule. Hopefully.
skiddlesApr 23, 2009
It is interesting, I am sure few would trust the Harvard Administrators. But take those same people and make them Government Administrators, and they are infallible because they wear the government issued, polyester mantle of government righteousness.
bobbi21Apr 25, 2009
Yeah since it's OTC we don't tend to prescribe it so when I see tylenol I assume the kind we prescribe and pretty much all of them have caffeine. I admit my bad. Anyway, I'll forgive your over reacting. Get lots of that online... You say 1 thing like It'll take a lot of work to get the US economy back on track and you get these ppl claiming you're a commie obama lover who wants to destroy america with socialism.(Being canadian I guess I am pretty socialist anyway. Meh)
desertdenizenMay 3, 2009
Swine flu update to FatherMarlow's brand of ignorance: The antiviral used to treat swine and avian influenza is made by Roche and is called Tamiflu (scientific name Oseltamivir).It comes from the Chinese herb Star Anise, which grows in China. The active ingredient is shikimic acid which can not currently by synthesized economically, meaning Roche buys 90% of the world's production of Star Anise for the manufacture of Tamiflu. The production capacity of Star Anise is what limits the worldwide production of Tamiflu.Star Anise has been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for thousands of years.<a class="user" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oseltamivir">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oseltamivir</a>