surviveCANCER Foundation

This will, I guarantee, not be the only posting on this topic. One of the great issues I have with “modern medicine” is how the marketing is done today.

How many times have you sat in a doctor’s office only to watch a well dressed man or woman with a suitcase on wheels head to the doctor’s office. This is a drug salesman (politically incorrect).

My grandfather was a doctor and I grew up knowing many of his old colleagues. In all the times I was in one of their offices before the age of 20, I can NEVER remember seeing a drug salesman come to call. Now perhaps that piece of trivia dates me.

For a number of years after that, I would occasionally see one of these salesmen (the early versions only had a briefcase) as they were still quite distinguishable from the regular clientele. Never gave it much thought.

Today, it is hard to remember being in a doctor’s office without seeing one. Why is that? Doctors do not run a regular pharmacy from their offices, or do they? How many “free” samples do they dispense daily? How many handfuls/pocketfuls/pursefuls of drugs leave their offices daily? Who pays for all that?

In the long run, YOU DO!

I can remember when a doctor’s office visit was $1.50. That was not co-pay; that was the entire office visit. (circa early 1950’s). Nobody had health insurance. Now we have insurance and the average doctor's office visit ranges from $90 - $170 per visit. But we get "free" samples. What a trade-off. Is that progress or what?

Even up into the late 70’s/early 80’s the costs were not out of reach for someone without insurance. Doctors did not, as a rule, pass pharmaceutical samples out to patients. Life was relatively simple and a whole lot cheaper.

TIMES HAVE CHANGED!

Drug companies are skillful in their marketing practices. Today, you can not turn on a television for more than half an hour without seeing some modern miracle prescription drug being marketed. “Just ask your doctor if this (whatever it is) is right for you.” A true grass roots marketing scheme. It is bad enough that drugs are freely dispensed from a doctor’s office because not only do they have them to give away and are actually paid to do so, but now the drug companies have moved into the realm of having you ask for things.

The following is a prime example of just such an instance as discovered in the UK.

HERCEPTIN: How an unproven drug became a miracle cure

Drug companies travel more in hype than hope. A good example is the 'wonder' cancer drug Herceptin, which has suddenly become the people's choice and the media's darling.

This grassroots movement will doubtlessly be energized by cancer patient Ann Rogers's victory in the Court of Appeal against her health authority, which may feel impelled to start offering the drug. On the face of it, it's a bit of a mystery how Herceptin caught the public imagination, and captured the front pages of the national newspapers in the first place.

It's a drug that's appropriate in only a small percentage of breast cancer cases, and early reports from the USA suggest there may be worrying, and serious, side effects, including heart problems.

It's also unlicensed, and there have been very limited trials into its effectiveness and safety. In one, nearly 19 per cent of the participants had to stop the drug early because they suffered toxic effects.

But dig a little deeper, and you'll discover that Roche {pharmaceutical company} has been encouraging and cajoling the 'grassroots' campaign. Company representatives have been busy telephoning breast cancer patients, and putting them in contact with pressure groups and patient groups, which also happen to enjoy funding from drug companies. They've even offered to pay patients who are prepared to stand up and demand that Herceptin be made generally available in the UK.

And, of course, the PR companies that represent the pharmaceuticals have been contacting health journalists, who have an insatiable thirst for the next great 'miracle cure' story that will help sell their newspapers.

Sadly, behind this activity lies the simple fact that Herceptin isn't a wonder drug at all. Instead, it is just another untested drug with a dubious safety record.