Study Finds Pharmaceutical Companies Paid Doctors Millions to Push Opioids

SeaBreeze

SeaBreeze

Endlessly Groovin'
Location
USA
Part of the problem behind the "epidemic", more here.

The recent study looked at a 29-month period of time and found that pharmaceutical companies paid doctors more than $46 million to promote prescription opioids.

While there are a number of different opioid painkillers, almost half of the payments were made to promote fentanyl, one of the most potent and dangerous opioid drugs. A synthetic opioid, fentanyl can be up to 100 times more potent that morphine.


Because of its potency, fentanyl is useful for treating patients with severe pain, including terminal cancer patients. But it is also very dangerous because it is highly addictive and can more easily lead to an accidental overdose death than other, less potent, opioids. Fentanyl is attractive to those who abuse opioids and the number of opioid overdose deaths that are attributed specifically to fentanyl are on the rise.


According to the research, one in 12 doctors were given payments to promote opioids. One in five family practice doctors were paid some amount by pharmaceutical companies promoting opioid drugs.

The research also indicated that the payment amounts increased in the period studied as compared to previous years. The findings are troubling and suggest that Big Pharma is playing an important role in the over-prescribing of these dangerous drugs.

Payments Do Influence Doctors, Even Small Amounts

Other studies have found that these payments made to doctors do influence how and what they prescribe patients.

In the current study researchers found that the median amount pharmaceutical companies paid an individual doctor was just $15 but that the top one percent of physicians were given more than $2,600.

Previous studies found that these payments influence doctors, and it is not just the big gifts. Even smaller gifts or free meals can significantly increase the likelihood a doctor will prescribe the company’s medication to patients.
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Drug companies have been "rewarding" doctors, for years...based upon the amount of prescriptions they write. Propublica.org has had an investigation into this practice for several years. The amount of money that flows to the doctors is in the billions/year.

https://www.propublica.org/series/dollars-for-docs

https://projects.propublica.org/docdollars/

I suppose there is a need for some of these drugs, but lifestyle changes would probably work as well, or better, for many people who are increasingly being hooked on these "chemicals".
 
Maybe this is part of the problem, but the issue of over-using opiates goes way beyond drug companies paying doctors to use or prescribe their opiates. Emergency rooms were and still are becoming over-crowded due to so many people using them as their doctor's office. First thing the patient is asked is, "On a scale of 1-10, what is your pain level?" Anything above a 6 usually resulted in the patient being given an injection of Dilauded. If that took away the pain, the doctor would issue the patient an Rx for an opiate like, Hydrocodone (Vicodin), Oxycodone (Percocet) or Hydromorphone (Dilauded). They would also be instructed to see their PCP, who would then after examining the patient in many cases refer them to a specialist, who would order a battery of tests. This would all be done in the network that these doctors are hired by, like Pinnacle for example. Of course, if the patient required additional opiates to control the pain, no problem. They would continue to receive additional scripts for more opiates.

Using opiates to control the pain was the answer to get the patient out of the office and home taking these pills to control their pain, but they cured nothing.
 

Don M. said:
Drug companies have been "rewarding" doctors, for years...based upon the amount of prescriptions they write. Propublica.org has had an investigation into this practice for several years. The amount of money that flows to the doctors is in the billions/year.

https://www.propublica.org/series/dollars-for-docs

https://projects.propublica.org/docdollars/

I suppose there is a need for some of these drugs, but lifestyle changes would probably work as well, or better, for many people who are increasingly being hooked on these "chemicals".
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I think you are right about it being all kinds of prescription drugs they are rewarded for prescribing.

I either read or watched a documentary about how they re-evaluated the cutoff numbers for recommending drugs for "high" cholesterol and what I got out of it is they wanted a specific percentage of people on those drugs and used that to determine what was "high" cholesterol. What I'm trying to say was the number wasn't set by results but by getting a certain percentage of people on cholesterol meds; questionably creating a made-up demand for those particular drugs. I suspect that is the case with a lot of these drugs that are suppose to treat symptoms but not cure anything. It's questionable whether it is more a racket than a medical treatment.
 
dpwspringer said:
I think you are right about it being all kinds of prescription drugs they are rewarded for prescribing. I suspect that is the case with a lot of these drugs that are suppose to treat symptoms but not cure anything. It's questionable whether it is more a racket than a medical treatment.
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I guess I'm getting old, but I still remember the days when doctors made House Calls, and we had a "Medical Profession". I recent years, we have acquired a "Health Care Industry"....and the Primary Goal of any industry is to Make Money. Between millions of our people failing to practice good health care habits....diet, exercise, etc., and an increasing amount of Greed in our health care system, it's no wonder that Health Care is becoming so outrageously expensive. I see the day rapidly approaching where this nation will have to go to a SP-UHC system, much like the rest of the world uses. We spend twice as much as most other nations, and rank way down the list in terms of "results". This MUST change or half our people will be going bankrupt trying to support this grossly inefficient system.
 
I agree with Dpwspringer, our health care system has become a racket. They now put profits above people, even if it ruins their health and financial stability. Don, I remember as a child having the doctor come to my house to care for us kids, and that was in the mid to late 50s. My inlaws also had a good doctor in the 70s, 80s and 90s, who would still make home visits with them when needed. Nice to have that personal interaction and see a doctor who really cares about his patients health and freely uses his education and intuition to prescribe what they might need. Doctors have lost their freedom to practice the way they want to, in my opinion.
 
Don M.

I agree for the most part but...it seems to me that back in the "house-call" days, nobody really "exercised" . Jack LaLanne was on TV , on occasion , but other than that ? We didn't have all the gym membership & gym equipment ads , etc. That we see today, and as for diet ? I do not remember much there either.....perhaps I'm wrong.

This may sound "way-out-there" but......I think something has changed in the way our food is grown / processed? Nutrients lost, junk enhanced in the interest of "shelf-life" , larger animals & profit.

BTW.......SP-UHC ? I got the UHC.....universal health care...but {SP} ?
 
SeaBreeze said:
I agree with Dpwspringer, our health care system has become a racket. They now put profits above people, even if it ruins their health and financial stability. Don, I remember as a child having the doctor come to my house to care for us kids, and that was in the mid to late 50s. My inlaws also had a good doctor in the 70s, 80s and 90s, who would still make home visits with them when needed. Nice to have that personal interaction and see a doctor who really cares about his patients health and freely uses his education and intuition to prescribe what they might need. Doctors have lost their freedom to practice the way they want to, in my opinion.
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The healthcare system has become a racket? You're probably right. For example; here in PA, we have a healthcare provider named "Wellspan." They cover everything from A-Z that has to do with healthcare. If you should go to a doctor (PCP) that is a Wellspan physician and you need follow-up from a specialist, he/she will send you to another Wellspan physician. If you need any imaging or lab work done, you will be referred to a Wellspan clinic. And, if you need hospital care, you will be going to a Wellspan hospital. They have it all covered.

As for the medicine part of healthcare, I think there is a pill for almost any disease or ailment that rears it's head. However, all in all, healthcare is now like any other business. They have to make money to keep their investors or shareholders happy. Losing money will only get the CEO, COO and the CFO fired. With the amounts of money these people make per year, plus bonuses, they aren't about to lose their job.
 
rgp said:
Don M.

I agree for the most part but...it seems to me that back in the "house-call" days, nobody really "exercised" . Jack LaLanne was on TV , on occasion , but other than that ? We didn't have all the gym membership & gym equipment ads , etc. That we see today, and as for diet ? I do not remember much there either.....perhaps I'm wrong.

This may sound "way-out-there" but......I think something has changed in the way our food is grown / processed? Nutrients lost, junk enhanced in the interest of "shelf-life" , larger animals & profit.

BTW.......SP-UHC ? I got the UHC.....universal health care...but {SP} ?
Click to expand...

Back in the 50's and 60's, I don't recall any extremely fat people, especially kids...we were too busy running the calories off playing, instead of sitting in front of the TV, or on the cell phone all day. There wasn't much need for gyms, as most people were quite active just working and taking care of their houses and yards, etc. Today, Obesity accounts for about 30% of our total health care costs...200 billion, or more, a year.

You are right about the food we eat. It is laced with chemicals, growth hormones and steroids that didn't exist in the food supply 50 years ago....and these chemicals stay in the food even after processing and cooking. The Profit motive and the need for farmers to feed twice as many people is forcing us to eat Garbage that would not have been needed or allowed 50 years ago.

SP-UHC stand for Single Payer, Universal Health Care...or "socialized medicine", if you will. This is the system that most of the civilized world uses, and it takes most of the profit motive out of the system. The nations which use these systems spend about half of what we do....and the last time the WHO (world health organization) ranked the nations by overall results, the U.S. came in at number 37. The Only thing holding us back from going to such a system is the millions and billions our present system donate to all of our politicians. Go to Opensecrets.org, and look up who donates to the politicians political campaigns...the AMA, and drug companies, etc., are all well represented.
 
When I was young, we ate three good homemade meals a day. We only had dessert after Sunday dinner. No constant snacking and no fast food. We got to where we were going on foot or on our bicycles. We were very active in sports and played outdoors. We probably couldn't imagine driving to a gym to use workout machines and drive home after.

Our food was undoubtedly much safer and more nutritious because that was before our food and water supply were tainted.

Edited to add: When I was young, I didn't know anyone who took prescription medications every day.
 
Doc and pharmaceutical money. One doc I worked with was young, attractive and charming, he was also a type 1 diabetic. Drug companies loved him and he loved their money. He would give talks before work, during lunch and after work and then would travel to other areas to give talks on weekends, etc. The drug reps would line up all day, every day to speak with him about their meds, it was like cockroaches everywhere. The topper was another doc I worked with (he was a urologist)who flew (first class) to China for one day to give a talk! Oh, the money he made.
In the industry, these guys are known as ‘rep whores.’
 
Smiling Jane said:
When I was young, we ate three good homemade meals a day. We only had dessert after Sunday dinner. No constant snacking and no fast food. We got to where we were going on foot or on our bicycles. We were very active in sports and played outdoors. We probably couldn't imagine driving to a gym to use workout machines and drive home after.

Our food was undoubtedly much safer and more nutritious because that was before our food and water supply were tainted.

Edited to add: When I was young, I didn't know anyone who took prescription medications every day.
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I agree...with the first part.

On the last, I have to admit, I really didn't pay much attention But!...you're probably right.
 
Think "Citizens United" when you talk of the money pouring into the pockets of politicians and how they vote according to the wishes of these corporations. Also think of which politicians strongly supported this measure and which didn't. Too easy to slide over these things with the "ALL politicians are the same" BS. Do they all accept the money, once the measure is passed - -of course they do or they would never be elected. It's far more important to see who, or what party, provided the push to pass this law that has changed the face of who controls elections in this country.
 
In the original post, "The recent study" is lacking in detail. Who made the study, etc. I can't believe what was said in that "study". Whoever wrote that doesn't know the first thing about the medical uses of fentanyl, or how it's even administered.
There' not a word of truth in that "study".
 
fuzzybuddy said:
In the original post, "The recent study" is lacking in detail. Who made the study, etc. I can't believe what was said in that "study". Whoever wrote that doesn't know the first thing about the medical uses of fentanyl, or how it's even administered.
There' not a word of truth in that "study".
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fuzzybuddy, if you click on the highlighted word "here" in SeaBreeze's original post and scroll down, you'll see the study's source.

The first I ever heard about fentanyl was that it was the drug of choice among some addicted anesthesiologists i knew personally. Next thing I heard about it is that the son of a friend was using heroin and got hold of some that had been laced with some bad fentanyl. He died with the needle in his arm. The only good thing about it is that he died fast.
 
I mean a credible source. Something with a ".gov". So, according to that "study", the next time you go in for surgery, deny your surgeon his $12 bonus from the drug companies, and refuse to get any of that "opioid" pain medication. Please explain how drug companies make money on home made fentanyl. Since these drug companies are fostering drug addiction, which drug company pays doctors to prescribe meth? And don't you think the people, who are forcing heroine into their bodies bear some responsibility.
 
Despite the high sounding journal name, the article is extremely misleading. Read it. The drug companies did not pay MDs $46 million. That is what medicare/medicaid paid to MDs when they examined a patient, and wrote a script for opioids. (And they get the same amount of money per visit, if they didn't write a script.) The article lists speaking fees, numbers, and percents, I can't account where they got those statistics. What the article says is 1 out of 12 MDs will exam a patient, write a script for an opioid, and be paid by Medicare/medicaid. That also means that 11 MDs examined 11 patient and did not write a script for an opioid, and they got paid by M/M.
 

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