Hello - this article is being shared with you as it is of interest to me and it may also be of interest to you.
Please note, I am not promoting a view or making any assertions. It is purely for information, but I feel it is worth a read.
Warning/Disclaimer
You should only read this if you are open-minded and not likely to get upset or worried about the content.
For your protection/safety/well-being, I have wrapped the article with a “Open with caution/at own risk” and so if you click to read it, you accept the above warning/disclaimer.
Click here "Open with caution/at own risk" - I accept the above and wish to continue to read article"
This article is from an organisation called Cochrane, a non-profit organisation legally registered in the UK. You can read about them here.
The article I found interesting is about a review conducted by Cochrane that found
"Doctors’ prescribing habits are heavily influenced by payments, gifts, and free meals from pharmaceutical companies, leading to more expensive, less appropriate and more drugs being prescribed, a new Cochrane review finds. This can seriously harm both individual patients and health systems. "
This has been going on since the 1950s, not to eschew the post, but to rather point out that the article is recycling under-the-table information that may be getting worse, but leans towards US regulation and not regulation in other countries. I recall this being a talked about subject when I was younger, but I can imagine it is ongoing.
I guess the argument rests with, if milk is a good source of calcium and considered healthy, then whoever is supplying the milk will ensure their product gets priority. I’m not sure the medication itself is necessarily under question, just those who peddle the brands.
Having said that, I know little about this and tend to rely on critical thinking to understand the prerogatives of society in business and benefit to the individual.
I found the article, so you didn’t hide it that well.
Yes I was aware of all this, thinking it redolent of the huge opioid crisis in the USA. Not sure how far it applies to UK in the current NHS, might be further research/laws to illustrate if GPs are visited by reps. That’s if you can get to see a GP, where I live we currently have one full time GP for appx. 4,000 people!
Yes, I am afraid, I struggled with the wording as clearly it cannot be hidden hidden, but I tried my best to warn anyone who might read it not being aware it contains “sensitive/contentious/other similar” content and then get upset.
As you rightly say, this is not necessarily new and views on this vary as per personal beliefs, attitudes to risk, understanding etc. etc. etc.
The fact it has been around since the 1950s, does not in my view make it any less interesting or irrelevant and I am aware of the “conspiracy theories etc.” but sometimes it is worth re-visiting these things as we can, in my view, and do learn from history.
Something else to think about for me is that with the advent of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and the doctor’s job being one that may be displaced, how comfortable would you be with being prescribed the medication?
And would this not be a reason why an AI GP would be one you consulted? Indeed, do we not already consult Dr. Google for some of our medical ailments?
We can already order medicines online, I have, and whether or not they actually consult your GP is another matter. I think, if I were to look at a drug like an SRRI, certain branded companies push their product harder and that is GPs might default to that brand. For me, research is everything, that’s why I got the SRRI I wanted, although slightly more costly to the NHS, my GP offered me two others before I pressed my case.
My concern with AI would be if it didn’t prescribe the medication I felt I needed or wanted. I think AI might be used primarily as a prescreening tool to lighten a GP’s workload.
Indeed I got most of the info re my stroke, heart failure , AFib from Dr Google, who told me I had 5 years left! Arrgh!!! This is out of date of course (excellent charity Pumping Marvellous, bit like stroke association, put me right) I order my meds via patient services app and they are reviewed by surgery pharmacist, so I see the GP as becoming unimportant to me (there is a lovely Advanced Nurse Practitioner too). This is a great shame but a protective factor for my mental health, thinking I can turn elsewhere etc. I am hoping things will improve, back in the day we had 6 GPs in a lovely purpose built surgery, which is now deserted when I go in there….ach weeel .
There’s ma boy!! Looks completely af it in this vid eh LOL My brain hurts quite often it could be said, wot a surprise!!! Of course we are all doomed ha ha ha
Whilst I’m not saying this is totally untrue.I do think the caveats that Cochrane themselves apply to their own meta study should be surfaced here in this thread.Because 88% of the studies where from the U.S where the regulatory frameworks are very different and obviously the healthcare system too:
Less appropriate prescribing and higher medicine costs
The review included 93 studies involving a number of different study types. Almost all of these studies observed real-world prescribing patterns rather than running controlled experiments. The majority of the studies (88%) came from the United States, in part because the Physician Payments Sunshine Act (2010)
