the whole darn mess

Squiggles · medicine forum beginner Joined: 08 Jun 2005 Posts: 40

Well, for what it's worth, here is my personal
overall impression on the health care/pharmaceutical
conundrum so far. I come from a tradition of a left-wing,
activist perspective on social policy and so I believe
that corporate interests do not mix well with social welfare,
simply because corporations have financial priorities.
"Caveat emptor"

However, I have also noticed that activist perspectives
have a tendency to be global and macroscopic if you like.
The assumption is often that if you eliminate corporate
greed, the health care system will improve. In many ways
that is true. But there is another aspect to health
care which will always be there, regardless of public
or private sectors.

I think that this is a perennial problem distinct
from the ideological effects which occupy so much
of the debates on health issues these days.
That is, that drugs in themselves can be beneficial
or harmful depending on the correct application and
diagnosis for which they are used. This is "real politic"
in medicine, if you like. I don't doubt that the aggressive marketing
of drug companies of "me too drugs" has complicated matters
and maybe even confused and seduced some doctors into a
quick fix method of treating health problems. But the successful use
of drugs is a practical matter, requiring knowledge
and experience. I think that is something that
stands on its own, as a fundamental. A seasoned
physician will have no need to rely on marketing
representatives to teach him medicine. And to assert
that trips to Hawaii and fancy lunches will sway
him from his duty, is presumptuous about the character
of doctors in general.

Squiggles

--
"A man can get used to anything in the course of time....."

~ Upton Sinclair

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