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Strategies & Market Trends : Ask Vendit Off-Topic Questions -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jill who wrote (5717)	3/2/2005 11:23:32 AM
From: Walkingshadow	Respond to of 8752

There's lots of problems with the current system, almost all of which are related to conflicts of interest. Allowing big pharma to control drug regulatory issues is like asking the wolves to take care of your sheep for you. Big pharma has really wedged itself very effectively into many levels now. Their marketing techniques have taken a very disturbing direct-to-consumer turn. This puts the clinician in a position of conflict, when the patient goes to the clinician asking for this or that drug they saw on TV that is the greatest thing since sliced bread, and if only they will take it, they will live happy happy happy happy happy forever and ever. The pressure might be subtle, but it is considerable. The clinician knows the patient is a customer, and so keep the customer satisfied. And patients often are wary and mistrustful of clinicians, and the upshot is that clinicians are far more likely now to give the patient what they are asking for even if they know it will not help, or might even make things worse. Another problem is that the government is involved, and with that inevitably comes complications. Governmental beauracracy can complicate a free lunch. And worse, the government is in debt to big pharma obviously, since big pharma plays a big role in deciding who will be in power. All that said, the regulatory process here is a lot better than elsewhere if you ask me. If you think corruption is bad here, you should see what happens in places like China, just to cite one example. T