Friday, December 20, 2013

Pharmaceutical Company, a breath of fresh air.

(London and the English country side are beautiful. I have only been there once and cannot find my own pictures! These are from the net)

GSK's Chief Executive Andrew Witty said in a statement that his company's actions were designed to ensure that patients' interests always came first.

            Big-Ben-and-London-Bus

(Nothing defines London more than the double decker bus and Big Ben)

By Ben Hirschler
LONDON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline will stop paying doctors for promoting its drugs and scrap prescription targets for its marketing staff - a first for an industry battling scandals over its sales practices, and a challenge for its peers to follow suit.

I have always ‘heard’ that doctors were given ‘kick-backs’ for prescribing certain or all medications (pills).  I mentioned our neighbor in Kirksville, Missouri in a blog a little while ago, he was ‘Good ole Mr. Wilson.’

changing-of-the-guard-londonguard-change-buckingham-palace-22737200IMG_3055kveen0742s

(Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace)

A great guy and a stay at home dad. He was working for the railroad and she was a nurse.  He worked until kids came along then they decided he would be the one to stay home until the kids finished school.  She was the head nurse at the Osteopath Hospital. (Kirksville is known as the home of Osteopathy).  He lamented to me one day that his wife was noticing more and more that even the Osteopaths were prescribing more pills.  He was sure they were being rewarded for it. That was in the late 50’s early 60’s.  I was skeptical but kept it to myself.

     london2-1024x768

(The River Thames and Parliament)

I always thought Good ole Mr. Wilson was very smart, now I know he knew what he was talking about.

I am sure in the USA and over the world there are still dedicated doctors who want you WELL, and not dependent on them, but I fear they are in the minority.

It would be a very good thing if the pharmaceutical companies would halt a system that encourages doctors to prescribe meds to patients that need them or not. 

London-Evening-Tower-Bridge-England1

(The Tower Bridge over the Thames)

My brother in law tells me he went to his Dr. and asked about a med that had been advertised on TV. You know the ones, ‘Ask your Doctor if this is right for you?’ As soon as he mentioned it the Dr. said if you want to try it, I will prescribe it, and he did.  How smart is that to allow us to decide from a TV advertisement?

Red_telephone_box,_St_Paul%27s_Cathedral,_London,_England,_GB,_IMG_5182_edit

(The famous RED Telephone Box, I wonder if they are disappearing?)

Anyway I seldom have anything nice to say about the pharmaceuticals, but I liked this. Way to go you guys over in the UK at GSK.

Nite Shipslog

PS:

See, I can see something positive in this world…

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Santa arrives in London

Father Christmas launches Christmas World at Harrods-1

8 comments:

I'm mostly known as 'MA' said...

It is always good to hear good news. I think lots of folks take meds unnecessarily but there are also the necessary ones. How to tell the difference is the thing. From the tv ads I've seen so many of these drugs have worse after effects than what they are trying to cure, so no I'd never take them. The consequences are worse than the illness. My good old standby is aspirin and I take occasional multi vitamins to supplement what I eat so I get what is needed, but in the long run a healthy life style and less stress cures a lot of ills. Stress is a big culprit in making people sick. I'm thankful life in the slow lane and for my good health. Hope you are all doing well there!

Paula said...

My daughter Lynda and her family lived in England for three years. They liked it there. Yep as soon as you start taking one pill before you know it another one is called for and so on. I'm waiting for my doctor report to see if I have to take a pill for high blood sugar because of having to take one for low blood platelets.

Anonymous said...

Jack, you're so optimistic (and gracious). My reaction is to say, "Well, duh! Why were pharmaceutical companies doing this in the first place?!"
Okay {taking a deep breath}, this is a move in the right direction, and we will commend them for it. :-)

bonnie k.

Chatty Crone said...

Well my DIL and son are docs and they don't seem to get any benefits from drug companies - I asked once and they said no, but I have to recheck and ask again. sandie

betty said...

I think in the "olden" days the doctors got "kick backs" from the pharmaceutical companies. It wasn't so much of a financial reward but they gave very nice Christmas gifts and would sponsor dinners at medical conventions that were held at nice restaurants with the food and alcohol flowing at the expense of the drug companies. They'd also buy a table at a fundraiser and invite the doctors they wanted to court, same things with golf tournament fundraisers. Then there was some change in the laws I do believe and they had to be more careful with what they did so things changed a bit. Hubby, working in hospital purchasing, would get offered this or that and he had to be very careful what he accepted (which was hardly anything, except some of the delicious candy at Christmas, LOL, that he would share with his employees).

It is good the policy is changing in England. I would imagine it will similarly change here.

But not only do the pharmaceutical reps try to get the doctors to prescribe their drugs, the companies that make the artificial hips and whatnot do the same with their wares.

So its an interesting business I do believe.

betty

TARYTERRE said...

I think they could stop the commercials and pass the savings in price along to the consumer.

shirl72 said...

I can't figure where my comments go. I know I comment on every blog
you write and they go missing.
These computers to their own thing.
I wonder it if deletes things on
it own. It's a Mystery.

Louis la Vache said...

«Louis'» father sold prescription drugs for Wyeth Laboratories. Yes, these things happen in the pharmaceutical industry...

Harrod's is a fabulous store! The Egyptian Room there is amazing. Harrod's has a grocery store in the basement, complete with a Krispy Kreme Donut shop in it!