Pharmaceutical Co.'s and doctors

[kbordson 8]

Quote

I just don't believe that they are any more ethical than the local plumber. Oath or no oath.

More ethical, possibly not. Smarter, not necessarily. Better, absolutely not.

More educated on the specific disease or ailment, yes.... but just having that knowledge is not really their job either. A physicians responsiblity is not to make the patient "better," rather to educate the patient on how to make themselve better. Dr's shouldn't be making the decisions, or the plans.... They should be teaching the patient about his/her disease and then with that knowledge, the patient should decide for him/herself about the future plan of care. But it doesn't always happen that way.

Doctors aren't Gods. Yes, some might act that way... but don't some Skygods act that way as well. I think it's more of a personality thing than a career thing.

[Lindsey 0]

I have some thoughts about this. First, I think you're just absolutely wrong in lumping all doctors into any category. There are greedy doctors who I wouldn't let work on my dog. There are other greedy doctors who are the best at what they do...and when you need 'em, who cares what their motivation is. There are altruistic doctors who will go to the ends of the earth to help solve your problems. There are doctors with a lot of debt, and there are doctors who paid nothing for their educations.

As far as pharmaceutical companies go....It's nice to be able to provide samples to patients who need them. I don't have a problem with drug reps buying lunch. In what business do you NOT see something similar? It's a physician's job to make the best decisions for his/her patients regardless of who buys his/her lunch.

I DO have a problem with pharmaceutical companies paying for vacations and the like, though.

As far as physicians going where they'll make more money. So what? What is wrong with a physician going where there's more money? Is there something wrong with an engineer going where there's more money? Or a businessman? I don't understand where folks think that doctors should work for crumbs. If you want smart, hard-working people to become physicians, then there's gonna have to be some compensation....

THEN as far as treating the problem rather than the symptoms. I just don't get this. I think we treat the problems as best as is possible. If I'm treating type one diabetes with insulin....well, the problem is failure of the pancreas. Giving insulin is the closest we can come to solving the problem. Can't make new islet cells grow. There's no "holistic" approach that comes closer to solving the problem. Accupuncture just ain't gonna touch it. When we only treat symptoms, it's because it's not feasible to do otherwise. I just don't get where you're coming from here. If you could give a good example, I'll try to address it better.

linz

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A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

[Zing 2]

Indeed ... in general, doctors are no more ,no less intelligent, ethical ... FILL IN THE BLANK ... than any other profession going.
My dad has practiced medicine (surgeon) for 50-plus years now and a brother retired after 25 (VA chief of staff and dean of major university teaching hospital)years as an MD ... they've got some real Sport Death stories.
Both flatly stated that 90 to 95 percent of the patients they see would be fine if they went home, rested and ate properly for a few days ... and 90 to 95 percent of their patients who did require medical treatment failed to follow the doctor's instructions leading to complications and/or extended recovery times.
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

Zing Lurks