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U.S. to make More Drugs Easily Available, Cutting Role Doctors Play

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Re: U.S. to make More Drugs Easily Available, Cutting Role Doctors Play

#51

Post by jl2718 »

anoncoward111 wrote: post #2

Yikes, my girlfriend is applying to med school as we speak. The medical industry is certainly a highly regulated, potentially overpriced service for decades now. When I see a headline like this, I have to seriously ask myself: "Is this when the bubble finally pops, or will it be status quo for another generation?"

It’s literally not sustainable. The size of the population that has been priced out of access to medical services is approaching a majority if not already.

90% of Americans avoid doctors like the plague. 10% blow out their insurance like they just won the lottery.

Re: U.S. to make More Drugs Easily Available, Cutting Role Doctors Play

#52

Post by veridies »

nnm wrote: post #26
athenot wrote: post #19

I have mixed feelings about this, especially considering the US is the only first world country where direct-to-consumer marketing is allowed for medications. Bypassing the prescription requirement is of course of significant value to drug companies, who expend quite a bit of resources to sway doctors with free lunches, conferences and soft persuasion tactics. Usually I welcome the freedom to chose but this doesn't i…

One of my friends has type I diabetes, in more than one times, she needed urgent visit/call to her doctors just to get the medicine she has being taken for years.

I have type 1 diabetes, and this is a constant fear of mine. It’s absurd that I should have to go through my insurance company to be able to get more medicine if I need to.

Re: U.S. to make More Drugs Easily Available, Cutting Role Doctors Play

#53

Post by [deleted] »

woolvalley wrote: post #21
anoncoward111 wrote: post #2

Yikes, my girlfriend is applying to med school as we speak. The medical industry is certainly a highly regulated, potentially overpriced service for decades now. When I see a headline like this, I have to seriously ask myself: "Is this when the bubble finally pops, or will it be status quo for another generation?"

Does your GF really want to rubber stamp things epipen Rxs? Once you have the allergy diagnosis, it generally doesn't go away. It's kind of like low tech automation.

[deleted]

Re: U.S. to make More Drugs Easily Available, Cutting Role Doctors Play

#54

Post by stochastic_monk »

xamuel wrote: post #36
athenot wrote: post #19

I have mixed feelings about this, especially considering the US is the only first world country where direct-to-consumer marketing is allowed for medications. Bypassing the prescription requirement is of course of significant value to drug companies, who expend quite a bit of resources to sway doctors with free lunches, conferences and soft persuasion tactics. Usually I welcome the freedom to chose but this doesn't i…

So ease access to the drugs and tighten the regulations around advertising. The fact we have consumer-driven ads for prescription drugs at all is like something you'd expect in a satire novel :P

Making it easier to get drugs exacerbates this problem: people start widely prescribing themselves drugs that do them harm, in combinations they don’t understand, all believing what the pervasive advertising mind-control system tells them to believe.

Our current situation is terrible; this just makes it worse.

Re: U.S. to make More Drugs Easily Available, Cutting Role Doctors Play

#55

Post by stochastic_monk »

jl2718 wrote: post #46

Bravo. The AMA/FDA/insurance cartel cannot die soon enough. I don’t care if you want a free market, or you want socialized medicine, both are preferable to government-enforced racketeering.

You mean the AMA and FDA should stop preventing patients from taking contraindicated combinations or failing to understand the risks they’re taking on by self-medicating? Pharmacology is complicated and dangerous. Letting corporations go hog-wild will harm many people.

Re: U.S. to make More Drugs Easily Available, Cutting Role Doctors Play

#56

Post by ryandrake »

jl2718 wrote: post #51
anoncoward111 wrote: post #2

Yikes, my girlfriend is applying to med school as we speak. The medical industry is certainly a highly regulated, potentially overpriced service for decades now. When I see a headline like this, I have to seriously ask myself: "Is this when the bubble finally pops, or will it be status quo for another generation?"

It’s literally not sustainable. The size of the population that has been priced out of access to medical services is approaching a majority if not already. 90% of Americans avoid doctors like the plague. 10% blow out their insurance like they just won the lottery.

I’m one of those 90%. I simply don’t trust that doctors’ incentives align with mine. Too often it seems they do nothing but shrug and bill you for the visit, send you for expensive blood tests, or send you to their specialist med school buddies so they can bill you for 5 minutes too.

Then there’s the billing: you don’t know what you’re going to pay until months later, after you sign a form saying you’ll pay anything they want! They will never quote upfront and will never itemize what they did.

Re: U.S. to make More Drugs Easily Available, Cutting Role Doctors Play

#57

Post by srameshc »

veridies wrote: post #52
nnm wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of my friends has type I diabetes, in more than one times, she needed urgent visit/call to her doctors just to get the medicine she has being taken for years.

I have type 1 diabetes, and this is a constant fear of mine. It’s absurd that I should have to go through my insurance company to be able to get more medicine if I need to.

This is the most atrocious thing to do by not to letting people with Type 1 buy their Insulin medication. I just don't see a reason why this is so much regulated. Like some meds which are partially regulated, where you can request a Pharmacist and they can give you would be reasonable in this case.

Re: U.S. to make More Drugs Easily Available, Cutting Role Doctors Play

#58

Post by spullara »

xamuel wrote: post #36
athenot wrote: post #19

I have mixed feelings about this, especially considering the US is the only first world country where direct-to-consumer marketing is allowed for medications. Bypassing the prescription requirement is of course of significant value to drug companies, who expend quite a bit of resources to sway doctors with free lunches, conferences and soft persuasion tactics. Usually I welcome the freedom to chose but this doesn't i…

So ease access to the drugs and tighten the regulations around advertising. The fact we have consumer-driven ads for prescription drugs at all is like something you'd expect in a satire novel :P

The cynical view is that other countries have restrictions around drug advertising because if an expensive drug is demanded they have to pay for it through their single payer system. I can imagine not wanting the population to find out that there is cure for Hepatitis C but it costs the country 20k per person. Not all countries are as forward thinking as Australia:

http://theconversation.com/australia-leads-the-world-in-hepa...

Re: U.S. to make More Drugs Easily Available, Cutting Role Doctors Play

#59

Post by jklinger410 »

stochastic_monk wrote: post #55
jl2718 wrote: post #46

Bravo. The AMA/FDA/insurance cartel cannot die soon enough. I don’t care if you want a free market, or you want socialized medicine, both are preferable to government-enforced racketeering.

You mean the AMA and FDA should stop preventing patients from taking contraindicated combinations or failing to understand the risks they’re taking on by self-medicating? Pharmacology is complicated and dangerous. Letting corporations go hog-wild will harm many people.

Great, you've discovered the problems they solve for. Now solve the problems they create.

Then, weigh the two against one another.

Let us know what you conclude. Then we start the lobbying process...

Re: U.S. to make More Drugs Easily Available, Cutting Role Doctors Play

#60

Post by ComradeTaco »

veridies wrote: post #52
nnm wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of my friends has type I diabetes, in more than one times, she needed urgent visit/call to her doctors just to get the medicine she has being taken for years.

I have type 1 diabetes, and this is a constant fear of mine. It’s absurd that I should have to go through my insurance company to be able to get more medicine if I need to.

I don't know if this is helpful to you, but Walmart pharmacies have inexpensive insulin if you ask for it.
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