…and i’ve got that awful feeling that I’ve been had. Not by the patient – all very genuine and concerned, bless them. Somehow, by the ‘system’. These precious 10 capsules cost £15 at tariff price, and it wasn’t me that actually prescribed them – it was a combination of the protocol i’d been following (which I don’t have to follow) but more so the blind panic on the other end of the phone.
The global marketing/development budget for avionics and car industry is around $2 billion, yet for the pharmaceutical industry it’s nearer $200 billion. I don’t doubt the pharma industry does a great job developing new and amazing drugs, but I also don’t doubt that they’re awfully good at making us take them too, whether or not we need them.
As I sit here at this surgery desk, next to me is a leaflet for ‘free’ talks for GPs “The key to appropriate prescribing in antidepressants” at a host of lavish venues, all kindly sponsored by Lundbeck, a major manufacturer of antidepressants. Funny that.
