If you have gone to the doctors office recently, you have probable noticed the people with the suites and briefcases in the lobby passing out samples of medication and advertising the "new and improved drug". These people are drug company sales representatives, sent to market the new drug to both you and the doctor.
Believe it or not, your ailment is not the only thing that decides what type of medication that your doctor prescribes you. A lot of times, doctors shy away from prescribing you the cheapest and most effective medicine, and instead, prescribe the more expensive, brand name drug, do to incentives placed in front of him or her by the drug companies.
In a recent study by the Journal of American Medical Association, it was found that each drug company spends anywhere from 8 to 13 thousand dollars per doctor in advertising. This includes anything from meals and golf with representatives, to all expense paid trips to "conferences" to learn about the new medication. But why target doctors? Aren't they just supposed to be prescribing medication deemed to treat whatever illness or problems you are experiencing? Yes, but there are many medications out there that can treat your problem, and the drug companies are persuading the doctors to prescribe their more expensive version of the medication to treat your problem.
In the recent study the interaction between the doctors and the pharmaceutical industry was watched closely. It was found that the prescription that doctors make for their patients is affected by there relationship with the drug companies. Most doctors tend to prescribe more of the new expensive drugs even when there is a cheaper alternative, and the more expensive drug shows no advantage to the patient.
Although not all doctors are effected by the drug companies self promotion and incentives given to them by the drug companies, its obvious that all the money that the drug companies spend on marketing that specifically targets doctors has some affect on which brand of medication doctors prescribe. If you are constantly bombarded with commercials, samples, gifts, and incentives from a certain brand each and every day, that it comes to your mind first when its prescription time. But that doesn't make it right.
So how do you get around the high cost prescription your doctor just gave you? Go to FreebeeForeignPharmacy.com. FFP has a database of foreign pharmacies that allow you to locate your medication from 20 to 50 percent cheaper than in the United States. Visit this Consumer Advocacy website for more information on ordering from an online
foreign pharmacy.
For more related articles visit our blog:
Foreign Pharmacy Tips.
