<span title="Cancer/co-pays/doctors/gouging/.......?">Cancer/co-pays/doctors/go...</span>

Question

Are you aware that some doctors are getting 'kickbacks' from the drug companies? My daughter-in-law was being given a very expensive drug as an infusion, for cancer. Her co-pay was enormous. Going to another doctor, she was informed by the other doctor that she did not need that expensive medication, but one that did the same thing, only was much cheaper. The second doctor, a very reputable oncologist in a large city, said that the first doctor was, like many of his colleagues, getting money from the drug company for prescribing that particularly expensive drug. What is wrong when medical people have lost compassion for their patients, and have no compassion or regard for their patients who are burdened with large co-pays????

Answer 1

A lot of times people forget that a pharmacist can really help in a situation like this. They can let you know alternative drugs that you can ask your doctor about. It&#039;s unfortunate that the first doctor cared more about a paycheck than his patient--he definitely went into medicine for all the wrong reasons. I&#039;m glad the second doctor was able to prescribe a good alternative. It&#039;s so important to find a doctor that you can trust.

Answer 2

It isn&#039;t actually kick-backs. That would be both illegal and unethical. There are some too-cozy relationships between drug companies and people doing some research, and those research doctors all too often think of the drug from the company they have research business with as &quot;their baby.&quot; The US went off on the wrong track some decades ago. About two thirds of clinical research is funded directly by pharmaceutical companies, and federal funds are few and far between. The FDA has almost no funding itself, for instance, and relies on studies published outside, generally by the company seeking approval of its drug, to make its determinations. Don&#039;t look for massive tax increases and government funding of research to be a political winner, though!

Answer 3

There are some who do that.  On the other hand I have a particular doctor who has provided me with two expensive prescriptions (samples) at no charge for years now despite the fact that I am fully insured and would pay only a co-pay for the medication.