Health Care Trends

[Anonymous]

Guess how far this discussion on health care trends by your CTLs brought many Rxs of Dulera, Januvia or even Juvistync? Thinking that knowing more than the doctor about these trends will make them write! Well for me NONE! When will Merck realized the reasons why doctors write the products is because of their relationship with the rep and not some mumbo jumbo made up scenarios by the company!!!

Merck, get real. The reason I stay is because of my CTL who happens to be a a phoney and knows not a tad of my territory. My docs don't know here and she couldn't care less if she know them.

Talk about a joke!

 

[Anonymous]

sorry merkbot. relationships with reps. is the last reason a physician prescribes a product.
Cost/fomulary access-no rep. influence here.
efficacy-januvia moves A1C around .07-hardly "effective" but may have uses for some patients. Again, no rep. influence here.
Tolerability-most merck products are generally well tolerated, a reps job is to help the practioner identify the right patient,with right product at the right dose. My observation is that very few reps actually do this. Most come in-glad hand the doc and staff-spew a few "verbatiums" drop some samples and leave.
What relationships professional representatives (who did have the training,maturity and experience) did have with key physicians, merck destroyed long ago by:1. firing such reps 2. re-assigning and re-alinging with less knowledgeable cheaper versions.
Physicians have learned long ago to trust (key in a relationship) very little of what some "shiney shoe", platitude spewing, "johnny-come-lately" rep has to say.

The days of a distinguished,experienced,knowledgeable reps are long gone. merck got rid of 'em all.

 

[Anonymous]

A cardiologist once told me: "The into. to my cardiology textbook read-'This textbook is only a guide. You must make the best decision for your patients based on your training and experience.' That was my TEXTBOOK! How much stock do you think I'm gonna put in what some reps says?" Good point.

 

[Anonymous]

The pharma industry will say anything and do anything to increase profits. Virtually everyone - regulators, doctors, and everyone but the most naive inside the industry - understands this. The general public is not entirely convinced but they are learning fast that pharma is not more honest than car sales. New sorts of sales and marketing are just new ways of spinning the half-truths. Nothing fundamental is changing. Less-than-honest practices rely on less-than-honest customers to sustain this house of cards. And there are plenty of those unscrupulous customers. But is it a profession or is just organized parasitism? And at 18% of US GDP and growing, is this industry the next bubble?

 

[Anonymous]

The pharma industry will say anything and do anything to increase profits. Virtually everyone - regulators, doctors, and everyone but the most naive inside the industry - understands this. The general public is not entirely convinced but they are learning fast that pharma is not more honest than car sales. New sorts of sales and marketing are just new ways of spinning the half-truths. Nothing fundamental is changing. Less-than-honest practices rely on less-than-honest customers to sustain this house of cards. And there are plenty of those unscrupulous customers. But is it a profession or is just organized parasitism? And at 18% of US GDP and growing, is this industry the next bubble?

If you have that attitude about Merck or the industry and still in it, you should quit.

That said, the industry is always an easy target. We give the docs products so they can treat patients successfully. Yet they pick on us about pricing while they themselves would drive around in expensive cars or whatever. They won't see reps but many would accept educational programs that come with golfing. We may be greedy. But we are the only industry that others deem should not make a profit. Drug costs are a small fraction of the entire health care costs. Hospitals are adding all those pricy machines (expensive tests) to compete against each other. They hide behind the non-profit label yet are making $$. Their CEOs are compensated very well too. Physicians know how to bill to maximize their revenues too. We are all hypocrites.

 

[Anonymous]

If you have that attitude about Merck or the industry and still in it, you should quit.

That said, the industry is always an easy target. We give the docs products so they can treat patients successfully. Yet they pick on us about pricing while they themselves would drive around in expensive cars or whatever. They won't see reps but many would accept educational programs that come with golfing. We may be greedy. But we are the only industry that others deem should not make a profit. Drug costs are a small fraction of the entire health care costs. Hospitals are adding all those pricy machines (expensive tests) to compete against each other. They hide behind the non-profit label yet are making $$. Their CEOs are compensated very well too. Physicians know how to bill to maximize their revenues too. We are all hypocrites.

Sounds like your advice is that if one has an attitude that the industry is broadly unscrupulous, one should leave. Then you go on to write a confirmation that the industry probably is unscrupulous. Sounds like a prerequisite for membership here is hypocrisy. I for one would hate to taint such a club with any personal honesty. LOL BTW, after seeing that personal honesty had become a liability in this biz, I for one, did leave. Sorry I waited as long as I did. But I re-visit the club via CafePh to see how mother Merck is evolving.