Prescription drugs: The only ovals that can bring people in the Seattle area joy any more.
- John Oliver
(Full disclosure: I benefit indirectly from the issues discussed in this video. Take that for what it’s worth.)
No one who’s been to a doctor’s office could reasonably claim to be surprised by John Oliver’s report. The corruption of the pharmaceutical industry is neither new nor particularly well camouflaged…but it deeply impacts each and every one us who sees a doctor (which hopefully is all of us).
The problem, of course, is that we don’t have a system focused on the delivery of health care as needed. What we have is a system in which pharmaceuticals compete for the attention of prescribers without the health and well-being of patients necessarily being the primary motivation. This shouldn’t be taken as an indictment of medical professionals. I’m marrying a nurse practitioner, and many of our friends, are doctors, nurses, and NPs, so I know that the vast majority of medical professionals are competent, morally solid, and have the best interests of their patients as their priority.
The same can’t be said for the pharmaceutical industry. Like any business, their profits come from selling as much as their product as they possible can. It’s in their interest (and that of their shareholders) to do whatever it takes to increase sales…and the industry is exceedingly adept at doing exactly that, to the point where fines and settlements are merely costs of doing business. When your profits are measured in billions, you can afford to get caught overstepping the line now and again. The problem with this is that it’s about profit; the health and well-being of patients is a secondary concern insofar as a drug’s effectiveness will increase sales and thus profits.
Drug companies are like boyfriends; they’re much more concerned about getting inside you than in being effective once they’re in there.
- John Oliver
I have friends who are reps for drug companies, and while I know them to be solid and decent, Big Pharma taken as a whole could only fairly be described as something less than patient-centric. While I could blame the companies, the honest assessment would be to recognize that they’re (with the occasional ethical lapse) doing what businesses do. They’re playing the games by the rules in place to govern it. Yes, the industry could fairly be described as corrupt, but that more than anything is reflective of our current health care system, which is an embarrassment. And it’s hardly the only industry skirting the edge of the legal and ethical envelope.
No country that claims to value the lives and health of their population would be anything but ashamed of a system like our own. Even with the Affordable Health Care Act, far too many people fall through the cracks. Access to health care is still predicated largely upon the size of one’s bank account. The problem with this is that by any reasonable measurement, health care should be defined as a human right. Just as one can claim a right to clean water, clean air, and safe food, an American should be held to have an inalienable right to at least a basic level of health care. No American should ever die because they lack the money to pay for health insurance or a necessary medical procedure.
In an effort to shine some sunshine on what happens in the relationship between prescribers and the pharmaceutical industry, there’s now a government-run website that will allow you to see what payments have been made to your doctor and by whom. It won’t solve the problem, but more information is always better, and it’s better to know than not. Do you really want to be wondering if your doctor is prescribing medication because he directly benefits from it?
Until Congress can break free from the vast sums of money thrown its way by Big Pharma, Americans will continue to be saddled with a Third World health care delivery system blessed with state-of-the-art health technology. Surely, we’re smart enough to find a way to balance patient care with profit…and to find a way to make universal health care work. A single payer system is the only system shown to allow for equal access to health care for all, regardless of the contents of one’s wallet. No, it’s not a perfect system, but what in this world is?
Unfortunately, since Congress collectively is addicted to the money gifted them by Big Pharma, the odds of seeing meaningful change anytime soon seem remote at best. And we’re all poorer for it.
