I am from India and was shocked after reading a news article published in the most renwned newspaper i nthe country.

According to the article, various pharmaceutical companies have found a new way of promoting their drugs. The new scheme gives the doctors a chance to win attractive prizes such as cars, refrigerators etc just by prescribing selected drugs of the pharmaceutical companies to the maximum number of patients. Prescribe drug A to 10 patients and win aa latinum card or prescribe drug B to 15 customers and get a gold card. The more number of cards they collect, greater are the chances to win a bumper prize.

Hundreds of doctors from various cities were announced as the lucky winners publically and were given prizes by Torrent Pharmaceuticals recently. All the infomation regarding theis marketing strategy is available on the site of the company.

This seems to be an attractive marketing promotion but is it ethical? Can we trust our doctors if they are giving the best possible drugs to us or are increasing their chances of winning a car? This practice is already banned in US and Europe. How long will it take for our government to understand the criticality of the matter and ban it in India also. The saviour image of doctors is also at stake due to a few doctors and the unethical marketing promotions by the pharmaceutical companies.

I dunno about that but what I do know is that it doesn't matter what market strategy some company uses or how the government treats those strategies, in the end, it depends on the doctor's integrity and how he/she will respond. The choice is still up to the doctor, which brings us to the issue, can you trust your doctor?

It depends who your doctor is and how much you know about him/her. In the end, what matters is that the doctors doesn't give you what's worse for you and actually help you get better.

But yeah, I do wish governments all over the world ban this type of market strategy. How sad for those pharmaceuticals to do those kinds of things. Such a shame....

In my opinion, leaving this on the doctor's intigrity is same as hoping a common man will not steal or do anything illegal and not taking the measures to reduce these possibilities. Doctors too have human flaws. The concept of law and order is to create a fear of punishment among the people while doing wrong things.
I agree that the doctor will never prescribe a wrong medicine to his patients. But medicines with same composition are available in the market with price variation of 100 to 500%. India is not a very rich country and people can't spend a lot on medicines. Also, the concept of medical insurance is not matured here till now. This creates a lot of trouble for the lower and lower-middle income group people here and sometimes breaks them financially. Its rare here to have a family doctor and is difficult to maintain relationships with him or to know him personally for everyone. Under these circumstances, if the doctors are provided with all these promotions by the pharmaceuicals companies, we can definitely expect some deterioration of the medical services in the country.

Doctors* are avatars of God (the ones who have Degree + Experience).
However, before you go to a Doc, please use your common sense and fix your lifestyle & diet.

I concur with OpaQue that qualified doctors may indeed be avatars of the gods - that is, if they take they take the hypocratic oath to heart and abide by it's humanitarian principles. But sadly, we live in a world of men, not gods, and men by their nature are subject to a fallen nature. Keep this in mind when you visit your doctor. It is incumbent on you to declare sovereignty over your own body, thus taking full responsibility for what you do it. Prevention is nine tenths of the cure.

I dont think that these schemes mean its not possible to trust your doctor. They are medical professionals, and would not prescribe a drug which would do you any harm, or which obviously have no effect. And many probably wouldn't take part in that kind of thing, as surely, if they were found to be prescribing the wrong drug deliberately for an incentive, then they would surely see some nasty consequences.
And just because they have an incentive to prescribe a certain drug, doesn't necessarily mean they will over-prescribe it, they may only prescribe it when necesary, and still receive the prizes after a longer wait...

A couple of years ago when i was doing some research on health, medicine and doctors, i ran into articles that talked about similar situations with doctors. Although the ones i read about didn't go about giving cars or other major things like that, drug companies do sponsor doctors for promoting their drugs over others. It's not necessarily that the doctor feels that the one they're giving you is better than the others, as the others can be just as good or better—and probably more affordable. It's a source of income for the doctor as well, where the doctor apparently feels justified by the information given out by the drug company to the doctor about the drug—if the drug works to some extent, what would the doctor have to worry about? If they get some extra income while getting the job done to their personal standard, they will continue promoting the drug. Bribes corrupt, high standards will be lowered, and more bad practices will occur.

Dear friend it really depends upon doctor. As many of them are really so good that many a times they sacrifice their family plessures and time to be given to their family and serve the patients. So as Opaque said many of them are like AVATARS. But some really in this fast growing business world are always after money money and money and for money they can do anything. But what to do. 

THe first principle doctors go by is "do no harm" although those benefits do seem quite attractive. Pharmaceutical companies are companies after all and target the materialistic side of people whereas doctors are sort of the "in between" party. In the end it depends on the Doctor and you can only really hope that they have your own best interests at hand.

I was going through the title and rembered i had a book of the same title with me.
Some things that i read in the book are what I experienced myself.
I used to believe doctors were God. Ok, close to it, anyhow. But my experince with the nursing homes tainted my belief in just abut all doctors. I won’t go into deteails. You don’t need that. But, I believe, like all people in all walks of life, there are good and not-so-good practitoners. That goes for doctors, too. And I believe a person has to be well-informed and take charge of her medical knowledge in order to prevent being victim of inadvertent negligence.
I doubt you trust all auto mechanics, computer repair persons, or hair dressers/barbers. Why should we, as patients, trust all doctors? We can’t. Previous post members has some excellent points above. Just as you have to have some knowledge about your vehicle, computer and what you think your hair dresser should or shouldn’t do, so should we about our doctors.
I undrstand why doctors would be upset with “know-it-all” patients who don’t listen to them. But perhaps the same is happening in reverse. Isn’t half of medical care actually listening to the patient? And what makes doctors think that we are so stupid we can’t learn, too? Just because I chose a differnt path in life does not mean I can’t study and learn what they leaarn. Perhaps I know more than many doctors on some subjects. I guarantee and I do on certain subjects, especially when it comes to our bodies and illnesses.
How often do doctors really read the new research and keep up with new diagnostis and treatment options? I believe the answer is not nearly enough. That is why the patient has to research and then find a doctor who has or who is willing to learn. That’s what most of do now. I found a specialist all the way across the country, in Vellore, who knew what was wrong with my mother. I found few doctors who was/is willing to learn. It’s a good combination, but I suffered a lot until I did. And the delay almost cost me my mother's life. Am I angry. Surely. At many doctors I saw in the past? Yes. At doctors in general? I don’t know. I don’t know with whom to be angry. Medical colleges? The “system”? What? Who?
What is the answer to the above? We would love to hear it. I know I’m only seeing it from my side, but no doctor has been willing to share with us from his/her side. I would like to suggest some posts on that from the doctors on these topics.
Some of the experience shared in trap17 will make us be a better human at large.

No, I don't trust Doctors. And I am surprised that they are now being so blatant about the fact that basicly, they are taking bribes from the drug companyies. Greed is pretty much ingrained into the fabric of humans genetic makeup, personally I think it is the root of all evil, though most consider money to be the root of all evil, greed beats it because there is greed for things other than money......power, position, ego, all play a part.

I have always figured they took bribes from the drug companies. When my better half was diagnosed with all of his health problems, they proscribed him many extremely expensive drugs. Through our own reasearch, we found many MUCH cheaper alternatives. Even the same drugs in different strengths could be cheaper, in one case taking 2 of the 20 mil pills per day was $50 a month cheaper than taking one 40 mil pill a day. But the doctors don't tell you that. You have to dig it up for yourself. Many of the older drugs are just as effective as the new ones, and are far less expensive.

Yes, it is a sad state of affairs when a doctor can get a new car or any other perks at the risk of another humans health. They give no thought to the poor person who is barely getting by while they drive around in their fine cars. Seems doctors are getting as bad as politicians.

Hi leeindia,

This is not happen every time..but i am trust my doctor.

Thanks

A difficult as it may be you have to trust your doctor! Otherwise life would be difficult!

I have found that female doctors are easy to trust than male ones...maybe because they are nicer when dealing with me or its something else...!

Many doctors know what they do though.

Yeah i agree. I have felt more comfortable with female doctors in the past simply because they treat you with more care if you like. and they are alot patient where as some male doctors just want to get you in and out of there quickly lol

I think Indian government sud take some action on such pharmaceutical companies and on doctors too.Any way such pbms are vary common in India here number are people are too much per unit aria and resources that is increasing competition and in the pressure company's are taking such wrong steps.God only knows what will happen to this country.

That's just it though Opaque, So many doctors do not use common sense anymore. They want to use all these high priced tests and drugs for everything. Like my Doctor who I do trust by the way. Last year I had a very bad cold. just a cold mind you. but he put me on all these high priced meds with really big names. for what? 8 to 10 days of being stuffy and sneazing. Doctor's are only practicing they do not know everything.

[font=comic sans ms,cursive]Hello friends. Am a post-graduate medical student and i couldnt help but reply to this anxiety-ridden thread. First things first, a doctor is a mortal human being, like an engineer, painter, driver, etc and is subject to all the social and personal pressures (more actually) as they are. Secondly, we take the Hippocratic oath whereby we swear to firstly do no harm and secondly do charity whenever we can.[/font]
[font=comic sans ms,cursive]--> Now, having said those things, let me also mention that i am fully aware that there are some doctors which prescribe more expensive drugs when cheaper alternatives are available out of bribes/incentives given by pharmaceutical companies. Yes, it is unethical on that doctor's part as he must keep in mind the patient's financial status and prescribe a cheaper brand maybe, but that doesnt mean that he is prescribing something wrong/harmful/unnecessary. There are also doctors who i know who give entire week/month's worth medical treatment free of cost to their non-affording patients. Unfortunately, they dont get telecasted or published about. [/font]
[font=comic sans ms,cursive]--> Secondly, the MCI (Medical Council of India) which is the central governing body of all doctors nationwide has taken action on the issue and made stricter rules for doctors regarding the acceptance of "conference trips/gifts"etc from pharma companies as bribes for pushing their brand over other identical formulations. But like all other problems of India are related to population, so is this. How many doctors will it chase and catch and how? It has to be a conscious and conscientious decision on the part of the doctor. The companies are here to make money, they are corporate giants, unmindful of patient's plight. Its the doctor's duty to consider these aspects.[/font]
[font=comic sans ms,cursive]--> Thirdly, as rightly said by one of you, you must take care of your lifestyle and diet , before, during and even after going to a doctor guys! There is no escaping that!! He cant set things right that you have taken years to destroy! He is next to God, not God! [/font]
[font=comic sans ms,cursive]--> Common sense is necessary for every action, so why skip it for the most important aspect of your life-your health. Use it to judge the doctor and his social standing. Most often you can just make out whether or not a doctor is corrupt. Dont be afread to ask questions. Its his/her duty to answer them and explain to you your condition and its your right to know what you are being prescribed and why. Reading up is good for one's own awareness more than for cross-checking the doctor's decision. It shall make you more confident about the doctor and his decision and strengthen your trust. [/font]
[font=comic sans ms,cursive]--> Go to a doctor who has been recommended to you by a friend or relative. You are less likely to go to an unethical one that way. [/font]

This is nothing new. The unholy nexus between the pharmaceutical companies and the so called Doctors have been going on ever since the advent of competition in the field of manufacturing of medicines. Earlier it was under wraps, but right now they don’t see any reasons to conceal it any more since they very clearly understand that the Indians have since long become shock proof to withstand the impact of such shocking news.

And, in case if you feel that there will be some action from the powers that be or from the so-called ‘concerned citizens’ against such a devilish collaboration, you are mistaken. Nothing of that sort is going to happen. The pharmaceutical companies concerned are well equipped to'deal with them'.


Most of the Doctors of India have chosen it as their profession not out of the love for humanity. In most of the cases you will find that they have been forced by their well wishers to opt this as their profession. They secure admission in colleges by virtue of paying hefty amounts as ‘donation’ to the colleges concerned. In addition, a major part of the seats are in the reserved category which are set aside to help students from the minority communities, scheduled castes and tribes, other backward communities etc. Though the merit of setting aside seats for such categories cannot be underrated, the facts remains that a majority of students becoming Doctors by making use of such reserved quota do not possess the required level of passion or quality to do justice to this sacred profession.

The saddest part is that the a large number brilliant students possessing passion and quality to serve humanity as Doctors never get a chance to obtain a seat in the colleges mostly due to brute majority of the above mentioned categories.

So, it is nothing but natural that most of Doctors would love to forget the Hippocratic Oath that they have taken immediately after taking it! It is these Doctors who view this profession as profit making one and get into collaborations with such pharmaceutical companies and disregard the well being of their patients which is supposed to be their bounden duty!

As a result, presently in India the medical shops out number panshops and tea stalls! It is a big, big business. It adds every day crores of rupees to the coffers of the pharmaceutical barons. Therefore, in order to increase the sales, they will do anything within their powers such as the one presently under reference.

It is a pity that this country, where Ayurveda was born, things have reached such a pathetic level.

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