Pharma Pheelings

Pharmaceutical adds are EVERYWHERE!! While watching some of these commercials, I sometimes get convinced that maybe I need to be on that medication, particularly the ones that act like and focus on sleeping aids. Getting enough sleep seems to be a constant problem for everyone but will medications solve all of our problems - most likely not.

If that is not enough, there are also pharmacy reps that go from doctor to office to hospital - basically anywhere they can - to promote, recommend, and sell medications to who we consider as our providers. Although the worst part about all this may be the fact that most of these pharmacy representatives did not study nor hold a degree in pharmacy, the saddest reality is that doctors sometimes turn to them for advice and ask them for their "expert opinions." To an extent, that's a terrifying thought.

Here's another frightful statistic: the pharmacy industry spends ~$4 billion marketing directly to the consumer while also spending ~$24 billion marketing to the health care provider. That's right, your doctor. You might be asking yourself, where is all this money going? It's going to bribe your doctor. To convince him that this other medication is better than the standard because it came with a free lunch. No this is not a joke. It took me by surprise when I first heard about this as well. For a second there, I thought that maybe I chose the wrong career to pursue but then I remembered the reason I pursued pharmacy: I wanted to make a difference in the life of patients. With this being said, I don't want everyone to start hating and not trusting their doctors. Not evert doctor falls for this rouge. Not every doctor buys into these situations. There are plenty of doctors that know the right from wrong. Some doctors do make decisions based on their best judgment in combination with the literature.

As I've come to learn from all this thus far, granted that I am not done learning about this topic either, is that like with most things, information, people, and everything in life needs to be taken with a grain of salt.