I want a New Drug......
I was watching NBC Nightly News the other day. I grew up watching NBC. I remember Brinkley and Huntley. So when I want to watch a national news, I tend to watch NBC. Then I watched Jeopardy. I was amazed at the number of commercials I saw from Drug Companies. Acid reflux? Here is a purple pill that will cure what ails you. Want that special moment to happen? Here is a pill that gives you more time to express your love than the one you have to take 30 min. before you express yourself to your significant other. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. Say no more. Say no more. Then there is what I call the depressed Pacman who cheers up after you get your brain firing on all cylinders due to this magic drug with all these possible side effects. Sometimes the possible side effects list sounds worse than what you are treating. Brittle Bones? Take this but only if you can stand up right for an hour.
The Drug Companies have taken their snake oil show to the public. There was a time not so long ago that they couldn’t market directly to the public. They lobbied congress very hard to get that changed. Now the public goes to the Doctor and asks about a drug for some symptom they have by name. The Doctor is left in a tough spot by all this. The Doctor might think that another course of treatment is better for the patient. The insurance companies trying to keep drug costs down are very reluctant to allow for payment on these new drugs since they cost so much more than other drugs that work for the same thing and are now available in either over the counter or generic brands since the patents have run out.
I am not saying that these drugs don’t work or are bad. I am sure that for some people these drugs are the best thing ever and have improved their lives greatly. I know for a fact that a friend of mine who always had heartburn for as long as I knew him and had a very limited diet benefited greatly from a clinical trial for one of the first acid reflux pills. He was able to eat like a normal human for the first time in his life. Once the clinical trial was over, his insurance company didn’t want to play the high price for this new medicine. His doctor went to bat for him and he was able to get the pills paid for by his insurance. Between the clinical trial and the insurance paying, he paid out of his own pocket an absurd amount of money to continue to feel normal and not in pain. I am not very happy with insurance companies second guessing Doctors either.
Once a drug exclusivity period is over, any drug company can manufacture the drug. This leads to generic versions of the drugs. This does bring the cost down but at a price. Another friend who has hella allergies in the spring take Claritan and that is the only thing that works for her. Her Doctor tried her on a number of other similar drugs including Claritan-D and they didn’t work as well as Claritan. Claritan is now over the counter which is good and bad. She pays more for the drug since insurance doesn’t help with over the counter drugs. But she can get Claritan anywhere now without a prescription. The other problem is that sometimes, more often than not, the generic is not exactly the same as the original drug. The coating is different, which can make a big difference in time release pills and stomach upset. Some generics just don’t work as well but the insurance company won’t pay for the original since there is a generic version. Then there is the insurance companies attitude of try everything cheaper before we will pay for the expensive drug that actually works best. I have been caught in that loop. I have dust allergies that can make me sound like I am breathing my last breath because of the phlegm that is created. I have tried all the over the counter stuff and a number of the prescription drugs and what works for me is Allergra-D. However since I didn’t go to my Doctor 20 times each time something didn’t work, we don’t have the paper trail that will allow me to have my insurance pay for part of my prescription. So my ability to breath is coming out of my pocket. I am lucky that this doesn’t happen too often. I know if I am going to be cleaning a room I need to take it before to combat the dust that builds up normally in a house. So my out of pocket is bad but not as bad as for some other people I know.
So in my perfect world there would be no drug ads on TV. Insurance companies would stop second guessing a Doctor’s judgment. Drug Companies would just give Doctors information about their products rather than giving them gifts and perks for using their drugs over a competitors. And people received the healthcare they need without having to jump through hoops to prove what they and the Doctor already know about what is needed for them.
The Drug Companies have taken their snake oil show to the public. There was a time not so long ago that they couldn’t market directly to the public. They lobbied congress very hard to get that changed. Now the public goes to the Doctor and asks about a drug for some symptom they have by name. The Doctor is left in a tough spot by all this. The Doctor might think that another course of treatment is better for the patient. The insurance companies trying to keep drug costs down are very reluctant to allow for payment on these new drugs since they cost so much more than other drugs that work for the same thing and are now available in either over the counter or generic brands since the patents have run out.
I am not saying that these drugs don’t work or are bad. I am sure that for some people these drugs are the best thing ever and have improved their lives greatly. I know for a fact that a friend of mine who always had heartburn for as long as I knew him and had a very limited diet benefited greatly from a clinical trial for one of the first acid reflux pills. He was able to eat like a normal human for the first time in his life. Once the clinical trial was over, his insurance company didn’t want to play the high price for this new medicine. His doctor went to bat for him and he was able to get the pills paid for by his insurance. Between the clinical trial and the insurance paying, he paid out of his own pocket an absurd amount of money to continue to feel normal and not in pain. I am not very happy with insurance companies second guessing Doctors either.
Once a drug exclusivity period is over, any drug company can manufacture the drug. This leads to generic versions of the drugs. This does bring the cost down but at a price. Another friend who has hella allergies in the spring take Claritan and that is the only thing that works for her. Her Doctor tried her on a number of other similar drugs including Claritan-D and they didn’t work as well as Claritan. Claritan is now over the counter which is good and bad. She pays more for the drug since insurance doesn’t help with over the counter drugs. But she can get Claritan anywhere now without a prescription. The other problem is that sometimes, more often than not, the generic is not exactly the same as the original drug. The coating is different, which can make a big difference in time release pills and stomach upset. Some generics just don’t work as well but the insurance company won’t pay for the original since there is a generic version. Then there is the insurance companies attitude of try everything cheaper before we will pay for the expensive drug that actually works best. I have been caught in that loop. I have dust allergies that can make me sound like I am breathing my last breath because of the phlegm that is created. I have tried all the over the counter stuff and a number of the prescription drugs and what works for me is Allergra-D. However since I didn’t go to my Doctor 20 times each time something didn’t work, we don’t have the paper trail that will allow me to have my insurance pay for part of my prescription. So my ability to breath is coming out of my pocket. I am lucky that this doesn’t happen too often. I know if I am going to be cleaning a room I need to take it before to combat the dust that builds up normally in a house. So my out of pocket is bad but not as bad as for some other people I know.
So in my perfect world there would be no drug ads on TV. Insurance companies would stop second guessing a Doctor’s judgment. Drug Companies would just give Doctors information about their products rather than giving them gifts and perks for using their drugs over a competitors. And people received the healthcare they need without having to jump through hoops to prove what they and the Doctor already know about what is needed for them.