Big Pharma and US healthcare

[SomeRandom]

So this is probably more for my own curiosity guys. Help me out.

What are some instances of medicine and/or procedures that you have heard of or even just suspected as being pushed more for profit than actual care?

Have you ever not gone to the GP due to lack of funds or insurance?
Or known anyone who has?

Do you think this relationship fosters a large distrust among the public towards medicine?
Contributed to a market of “alternatives?”

I’m interested to hear people’s experiences with such a system first hand. Or second hand.
If that’s okay.

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

What are some instances of medicine and/or procedures that you have heard of or even just suspected as being pushed more for profit than actual care?

Diet pills. I was once prescribed diet pills despite myself feeling the situation wasn't drastic, and the pills had a lot of side effects listed, and I chose not to take them, and lost the weight naturally.

 

[JustGeorge]

Have you ever not gone to the GP due to lack of funds or insurance?
Or known anyone who has?

Almost everyone I know has been in this position.

 

[Nakosis]

So this is probably more for my own curiosity guys. Help me out.

What are some instances of medicine and/or procedures that you have heard of or even just suspected as being pushed more for profit than actual care?

Have you ever not gone to the GP due to lack of funds or insurance?
Or known anyone who has?

Do you think this relationship fosters a large distrust among the public towards medicine?
Contributed to a market of “alternatives?”

I’m interested to hear people’s experiences with such a system first hand. Or second hand.
If that’s okay.

90 Billion was made by Big Pharma during Covid 19.
Not to say what was and wasn't necessary but it sure didn't hurt the bottom line of the pharmacy companies.

 

[SomeRandom]

90 Billion was made by Big Pharma during Covid 19.
Not to say what was and wasn't necessary but it sure didn't hurt the bottom line of the pharmacy companies.

Hmm. Do you think this causes more distrust among the people over implementations of public health measures?

I mean we had our own protests here. But I feel like it paled in comparison to the US.

 

[ADigitalArtist]

Even with insurance, autistic diagnosis for adults with missed symptoms as kids costed over a thousand dollars. Without, triple that. Mental healthcare is underrepresented in workers, undercovered by health insurance, and with strained availability.

There also was a lot of unnecessary tests when I got my PCOS diagnosed. But I don't think it was for money-grubbing reasons, but because there's a bias against research/education in sex differentiated diagnosis across the entire medical field but especially in hormone disorders and their effect on mental health and digestion/metabolism.
I had to do four thyroid panels before someone would look at my ovaries.

I've heard from lots of women with severe menstral problems who were not allowed to get hysterechtomies unless they've already had a kid, and with spousal approval, supposedly for fear of litigation. Which is a money incentive in the opposite direction.

There's definitely a problem with pharmacological companies setting exorbitant price fixing with doctors and hospitals, far and beyond manufacture costs, but problems in US Healthcare are way beyond just 'big pharma.'
Even the most well meaning doctors aren't really given the opportunity to approach a patient problem holistically/multidisciplinary because of the larger problem of privatized insurance and lack of diversity in research.

 

[Twilight Hue]

90 Billion was made by Big Pharma during Covid 19.
Not to say what was and wasn't necessary but it sure didn't hurt the bottom line of the pharmacy companies.

Nor the personal wealth of many politicians.

Lawmakers Making a Ton of Money Off of the Coronavirus | The Mary Sue

Kelly Loeffler, Richard Burr, Jim Inhofe, and Dianne Feinstein all dumped stocks after a coronavirus briefing.

www.themarysue.com

 

[Nakosis]

Hmm. Do you think this causes more distrust among the people over implementations of public health measures?

I mean we had our own protests here. But I feel like it paled in comparison to the US.

I suspect that a lot of our political policies benefit the wealthy more than the rest of us.

 

[Stevicus]

So this is probably more for my own curiosity guys. Help me out.

What are some instances of medicine and/or procedures that you have heard of or even just suspected as being pushed more for profit than actual care?

Have you ever not gone to the GP due to lack of funds or insurance?
Or known anyone who has?

Do you think this relationship fosters a large distrust among the public towards medicine?
Contributed to a market of “alternatives?”

I’m interested to hear people’s experiences with such a system first hand. Or second hand.
If that’s okay.

There are some medications which were put out into the market but then had to be recalled/discontinued because there were too many adverse side effects or other problems being reported. It seemed that some companies were anxious to push it out there without proper testing just so they could start gaining revenue.

Along the same lines, one can see class action lawsuits coming out over this drug or that drug or some procedure or treatment that went wrong. I see commercials from law firms like this quite often.

I guess the companies calculated that the losses from lawsuits would be less than the profits they earn from putting the product out, even if it's unsafe. (The Firestone phenomenon.)

It probably does contribute to an atmosphere of mistrust between the public and the healthcare industry, since it forges a perception that the medical profession is replete with mercenaries who are only in it for the dollars. As my grandfather would always say (about any business), "They're in business to make money," implying that everything they say and do is predicated on that notion alone.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

What are some instances of medicine and/or procedures that you have heard of or even just suspected as being pushed more for profit than actual care?

Oh, let's not go there. It's against the (outdated) rules.