Yesterday’s Sunday Business Post
In yesterday’s Sunday Business Post…
Susan Mitchell and Jack Horgan-Jones reported:
A Sunday Business Post investigation today reveals that drug companies are funding dozens of medical and nursing posts in some of the biggest hospitals in the country, while almost one-third of the HSE’s most senior doctors are receiving money from pharmaceutical firms.
The investigation also found that hospitals are unable to account for millions of euro that pharmaceutical companies say they paid them.
Hospitals said they had no visibility of many of these payments, which were sometimes made to individual departments and organisations controlled by groups of doctors.
More than €17 million was paid out last year. That figure excludes funding for research and development or clinical trials. Among the items paid for by big drugs companies in Irish hospitals are a couch, a DVD player and a coffee machine.
The industry is also paying hundreds of thousands to individual medical colleges to fund the continuing medical education of doctors.
Professor Michael Barry, who heads up the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics (NCPE), told this newspaper that he believes payments from industry are influencing prescribing habits in Ireland.
He said doctors were prescribing more costly branded medicines here than doctors in other countries. He also said the industry should not be funding the medical education of doctors.
How doctors and hospitals cash in on big pharma (Sunday Business Post)
Previously: Medical Trials And Children Of Lesser Gods
Pretty much an open secret in the pharma world folks. Did you really think your doctor recommended certain drugs solely on their effectiveness to fight disease?
Morning Ireland had a bit on this today. There was a speaker who was detailing a report that doctors are swayed by pharma and as a results our drug spend is higher than it should be when compared across Europe.
This was countered by another guy who said that Doctors needed to be educated about latest developments.
Pharma have no education budget, they do have a marketing budget.
Well worth a listen.
Immediately after, it was followed by a paid ad from Phizer.
This is the link to it:
https://www.rte.ie/radio1/morning-ireland/programmes/2016/1107/829674-morning-ireland-monday-7-november-2016/?clipid=2325416#2325416
It’s about time we taxpayers went on strike
It feels like there isn’t a single corner of this country free from corruption, cronyism and general c-unit behaviour
C-unit – nice, that will be used.
£0.25p for a box of Ibuprofen in Strabane/Banbridge – 3.50+ euro for the same thing in Letterkenny/Dundalk/Cavan
Asthma Inhalers for kids – 3.50 in Madrid, 28 euro here..ad naseum (but not here, medicine too dear)
plus one on the C-unit. Great stuff. Might hack it to include Intensive C-unit but the original is perfect.
Don’t moan about going on strike.
Put pressure on your TD to do something about specific problems.
This could be one specific example. What are your TDs gonna do about it?
Medical staff as usual riding Mr. & Mrs. Public. Nothing new.
More corruption, more lies, more profiteering, and the average working person always bears the brunt of it. This is Ireland, its a farce!
Yup. Was originally on prescription for blood pressure which was working fine. My doc always stamps with “generic version” and never had an issue (except Boots who always tried to push branded version at twice the cost) cost around €15 a month. Consultant recently decided to change prescription to new pills out of the blue. No generic version and now €50 a month.
Thankfully was able to get year’s supply of old medication in Spain OTC for €40 total.
You should insist on being prescribed your “old” medication.
Ask your pharmacist to compare the 2 to make sure there is no danger to you.
Tell your consultant you are taking the new one and ask how you are doing.
If he says fine, new drug is obviously working as planned, give him the bad news.
Yes, lie to your doctor and don’t follow their instructions.
Alternatively, maybe ask your doctor why he changed your drug.
Given there’s “No generic” it suggests it a new drug so maybe it has added benefits your older drug doesn’t have.
Conclusion, lie about your treatment to your doctor rather than ask him a simple question…….
Hold your horses , I have a different experience .
My consultant prescribed me a drug that was really cheap , but made me sick as a dog, I researched it and found that it was effective for many but the side effects, some of which can be horrible.
I found an alternative and asked if he could switch me to it, he said it was up to me, but warned me it was expensive. That was part of his prescribing criteria, and fair enough, I insisted on trying the new drug, and Im sticking with it, as I tolerate it better , it is expensive though, but now its my choice …
DVD-recorder
oh, not even that. player!
Is there not a Standards in Public Office body that requires politicans to make
declerations, well simply remitt its function to the HSE and ineed all other public
bodies and those in their employ or contract.
1/3 of doctors?
I smell garbage
If the NCPE is so independent why do all but 1 member of its staff have past or current links with Trinity College?