Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Biotech / Medical : VVUS: VIVUS INC. (NASDAQ) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Edderd who wrote (5302)	2/5/1998 10:20:00 PM
From: Chris Delap	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 23519

Managed care organizations (MCO) don't really care that the problem they are treating is "nonessential". In the case of Muse it is would not be considered "nonessential". According to my wife the cost of the drug is not much of a concern. In fact most doctors have no idea what a drug costs. My wife has had numerous occasions where a patient who does not have drug coverage is prescribed an expensive drug and has asked if there is an alternative. The doctor is surprised when my wife tell the doctor the cost of the drug. The drug reps never mention the price of the drug when they are detailing the drug unless they have a cost advantage over a competitive product. An MCO only cares that they are profitable, they do place pressure on the doctors to catagorize a patient visits aggressively. That means they don't charge an insurance company for a 15 minute visit when the patient is there over 15 minutes. PCPs are the gate keepers of managed care and are the least expensive doctor and MCOs encourage a PCP to treat patients for a wide range of complaints. In the managed care world referrals to a specialist are bad. Lastly do the doctors know about Muse? The doctors have a lot of free lunches from drug reps (I wish I got that many free lunches) so that they can detail drugs. They know about Muse but may not be comfortable about prescribing it.