An insider's look at the medical mind - Part 2

Quite a while back there was a 60 Minutes special done on how drug companies were "paying off" doctors to use their products.

As you might imagine, the incidents they showed were outrageous and very anger provoking.

They portrayed doctors as greedy, money-grubbing bastxxds who were sucking at the teat of Big Pharmacy every step of the way.

I can remember rolling my eyes and thinking, "Where did they find these guys" And yes, they were all guys because in those days women doctors didn't get interviewed!

The results were blatant and obvious. The conclusion, inescapable: all doctors were crooked and on the take.

The honest to heaven's truth about it is I never saw that kind of abuse anywhere in the medical community I practiced in.

Let me also tell you that the business world gets away with things every single day that are perfectly legal for them and would immediately send a doc to prison.

My point is unless you chose your subspecialty very carefully; there are far easier ways to get rich.

So how do most doctors make a decision on what drugs to use?

The same way they and you and I make any other buying decision.

They make it based on emotion.

Right now there are a few doctors reading this out there with steam coming out of their ears.

"Not me!”, they're shouting, "I use science and logic" to make these decisions.

No you don't. All buying decisions are emotional and most people who are of sane mind and body make those decisions based on some simple, readily identifiable traits.

The Drug Companies are very slick at knowing how to identify and manipulate these traits.

You may think that drug trials exist to provide hard facts and data to the discerning physician.

I don't think so. I think they exist because drug companies know they have to appeal to a large group of people (doctors) who are taught to respect numbers and place a ton of value in them.

Here are a few examples. To get into college you need good SAT scores. To get into Med School you need good MCAT scores. To get into the Residency of your choice you need good evaluation scores.

Once out of Med School and Residency, numbers like tidal volume and potassium become the staples of your every day existence.

How is the patient doing is not answered in qualitative terms by most, but rather by a series of numbers.

So the drug reps who are often young, pretty females (do you think this is done by accident!) come in with studies that "Prove" their point and are statistically cleverly manipulated to prove just that point.

In some cases the drugs existed before the disease.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to find out that fish oil is probably far more effective than statins at preventing heart disease (there are huge Italian studies that show this).

But when you have 50 million men with high cholesterol and you have something that lowers it, well you've got yourself a winner.

What about arthritis pain? Huge market. Why invest in a drug that might cure the disease when you can invent one (based on the original anti-pain concoction, white willow bark tea) patent it and sell it to millions.

What's that you say? It kills people? Shhhhhhhhh! Just don't show that in the study and the docs will go for it hook, line and sinker. Send those pretty, young reps in to tell that middle aged, paunch bellied guy whose bustin' his hump in the office about all the good things it does.

They should be sending them in with fish oil and Instant Endurance so they can get through their days and serve mankind better.

What was the cardinal rule of medicine?

First and above all do no harm.

Which brings me to the 700 word limit I've been asked to observe on my blogs (and seldom do), so join me again in a little bit for part 3.

We'll pick up with some more insider secrets next time.

Don't miss it!

All the Best from the King of Pharmaceutical Grade Fish Oil,

Dr Dave