The Insurance Mom is a big fan of “Last Week Tonight” with John Oliver. I thoroughly enjoyed his expose (which aired on 2/8/15) about the relationship between doctors and pharmaceutical companies.
The gist is this . . . it has been a long-time practice of pharmaceutical companies buying doctors lavish lunches, providing divine holidays, inviting them to be a brand ambassador, speaking at events, and paying the docs handsome sums. It’s one thing to hand out free samples. But some of these practices are bordering on bribery, false advertising and in the process, perhaps skewing the doctor’s medical practices towards the companies’ products. John Oliver wondered why it is that some medical offices advertise a free lunch in their job postings. Is it possibly because Big Pharma is footing the bill?!
Aren’t you curious about what your doctor is up to? Here’s the website where you can see what kind of benefits your doctors may be receiving from Big Pharma. Go to https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov/ to find out more.
