> Part of healthcare reform in the US should be to get big pharma advertising off TV!

As far as I know, America is the only country in the world where Big Pharm is allowed to advertise direct to the public.

Cheers

The HMO for which I used to be an accountant had big problems with people coming in to the doctor's office demanding the drugs they'd seen advertised on TV. Drug costs started heading for the upper stratosphere as soon as the TV advertising started.

You really have to be a physician (or a veterinarian) to appreciate how much the big drug companies spend wooing the medical professions. My daughter is a veterinarian and her husband is a physician; they both were horrified when they got into medical/veterinary school and discovered how much the drug companies were lavishing on the students.

I suspect that proprietary drugs would be a lot less expensive if Big Pharma were forced to cut its advertising!

This is way off-topic, though! Back to the original topic: Thank you for the warning! It behooves all of us to track our medications--which include over-the-counter medicines--to make sure there won't be any interactions. Not all physicians do this when prescribing--it is up to each of us to keep track of our own. We also need to let our physicians know what over-the-counter items we take--even vitamins can be important! And we need to tell them about our activities, too.

Edited by hikinggranny on 11/24/2009 18:05:24 MST.

Roger, New Zealand too. I think that's it.

When tobacco advertising was banned in the US, it freed up a lot of big time marketers (and lobbyists for that matter). Using the same tactics to push pharmaceuticals. There are several good books out there on the situation. Marcia Angell's is excellent. This is an industry that has bought off its end consumers, physicians, legislators and regulators. And nowhere does it play out bigger than in for profit US healthcare.

Let's not even talk about the risk of Plavix in the backcountry.

Edited by backpackerchick on 11/24/2009 23:25:03 MST.

Off topic, and not to be inflammatory, but the benefits of ACE's and ARBs in diabetes has been clearly demonstrated in large scale trials. Fortunately here in Australia they aren't very expensive although in other countries I can imagine cost becoming an issue.

Edited by qldhike on 11/25/2009 05:35:15 MST.

Not the same. Hard to incorporate the morbidity due to side effects. Also must consider who sponsored the study. Even taken in the best possible light, results look pretty whimpy to me. What ever happened to lifestyle changes and addressing other risk factors.

This patient population is often on numerous other drugs. Statins and ACEIs? There's some potential for renal implications. (Add a bit of myoglobin to that pressure differential.) And let's put a bit of metformin in the mix for good measure.

There is another way! Just no pills to sell. Or first class airfare to the next overseas conference (big crackdown on this in US though). Or big pharma "consulting" fees. Physicians considered "thought leaders" can reap up to US $1 million/year from drug companies. Got to look at the patient as a person not just a blood glucose level or a SBP.

Edited by backpackerchick on 11/25/2009 23:49:15 MST.

Read not too long ago that the FDA is in the process of changing the OTC label. 4 grams/day is way too much!

If you buy in Costco sizes, keep in mind that acetominoPHEN is a metabolite of PHENacitin, a real drain on Ozzie Medicare many decades later.

Remember acute liver failure is a bit harder to treat than acute kidney failure.

That being said, I think most clinicians would consider Tylenol to have less potential for drug interaction. It is not considered an anti-inflammatory agent though. Must use with caution in people who consume significant quantities of EtOH.

BTW, Kaiser considers your BP high if over 140/80 (either number is over).

While there are certainly those that cannot lower theirs any other way than meds, I'm happy to say that my wife is now off her meds. Big weight loss, diet change and exersize really did work. And as a side benefit, mine is back to my early 20's BP (110/65 :) ).