Pharmaceutical Sales Rep Spills The Beans
I’m staying on the ‘behavior of drug companies’ theme today. So, here’s another story that will probably make you shake your head in disgust.
I’m sure you’ve already heard the stories!
Drug companies authorizing and training their sales reps to ‘take care’ of doctors and nurture the relationship so that in return the doctors will gratefully prescribe the companies drugs to their patients.
This is a MAJOR part of why we are living in an age where 6,000,000 CHILDREN ARE TAKING PSYCH DRUGS!
It’s shocking and immoral but it’s far from a perfect world we live in – especially when it comes to YOUR health care. As you probably know it all comes down to the mighty dollar!
That’s why the major drug companies are ripping in unheard of profits!
And the drug companies are going to keep doing whatever it takes to push their drugs onto the end-user because Americans love popping pills.
Why?
Because they want it ALL! A lazy lifestyle, dreadful diets AND [tag-ice]LONGEVITY[/tag-ice]! (Americans maintain the longest life expectancy of all developed nations!)
You know the really frustrating part of this is that the most profitable pharmaceutical drugs in the market are those that treat PREVENTABLE diseases like high cholesterol, diabetes and high blood pressure. Lipitor, a cholesterol lowering drug, is the #1 medication sold in the USA.
Get this – it brings in sales of about 12 Billion Dollars a year! Whoa – 12 billion!
The greed and profiteering of the major drug companies seems to know no bounds!
So then , the number one question to ask is:
“What exactly is going on behind the closed doors of doctors offices across America?”
A former drug rep came out last month to confirm the answer! Right up he admitted he was paid to wine and dine doctors to make a sale!
Shahram Ahari, spent 2 years at Eli Lilly where he sold the popular psych drugs Prozac and Zypraxa.
Ahari told a Senate Aging Committee that his job involved “rewarding physicians with gifts and attention for their allegiance to your product and company despite what may be ethically appropriate.”
Ahari claims that despite having no background in science, former cheerleaders, athletes, models and even military personnel were often hired by drug companies as sales reps.
Clearly drug companies are using more than just the merits of the drugs themselves to influence prescribing decisions!
During their five-week training class, Ahari says he was taught sales tactics such as:
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How to exceed spending limits for important clients
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How to be generous with free samples to leverage sales
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How to use friendships and personal gifts to foster a “quid pro quo” relationship
- How to exploit sexual tension
This whistle-blower basically ‘said it all’ when he uttered:
“The nature of this business is gift-giving.”
Would you like to know some of the more lavish types of gifts that doctors receive?
Ahari claims he’s heard stories about sales reps ‘helping’ with the costs of a doctor’s swimming pool and regular trips to nightclubs where a hostess was paid to keep the doctor company!
Hmmmmm!
The pharmaceutical companies are always telling us about the high costs of research for the development of prescription drugs but what about their marketing budgets - what must they be…?
Keep in mind that the pharmaceutical industry is bringing in new record profits — more than 3 times the average of other Fortune 500 industries, that’s after all research and development costs.
So how much are the sales reps getting for this type of work?
Apparently it’s often more than the researchers earn! Isn’t that truly incredible!
On top of a base salary of $50,000 for starting reps, Ahari says, “there were four quarterly bonuses, an annual bonus, stock options, a car, 401K, great health benefits, and a $60,000 expense account.”
What didn’t they get!
Recommended Reading:
Sources:
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Brett’s Comments:
This issue seems to have good recognition with health conscious consumers but not so with less healthy people who visit their doctors more often.
Almost all of my friends are well educated about [tag-tec]health[/tag-tec] and [tag-tec]nutrition[/tag-tec] and when I mentioned this story to more than a dozen of them during last week, every single one knew about ‘gift-giving’ practices to doctors and said it was “old news” to them.
Then I mentioned exactly the same thing to 5 people I know who are not in very good shape and have terrible diets full of processed foods and junk foods.
Only one of them said he had heard of the gift giving problem.
The health conscious people all said they are very well aware that their doctors were under this kind of influence and accordingly they not only questioned their doctors when a drug was subscribed but also researched the drug on the web the very same day.
Only then did they make the decision whether to take the drug or revisit their doctor (and in a few cases it was a different doctor for a second opinion.)
Shahram Ahari is one of very few sales reps who has seen and partaken in these corrupt practices and then gone public with them.
He is giving the public the confirmation for what many of us knew was going on but it’s still shocking to hear the extent of this ethical corruption with swimming pools, night clubs and hostesses!
As of April 2007 only 7% of U.S. Doctors refuse to meet with drug sales reps.
What does that mean to you?
That your doctor is probably under the influence of sales reps and has comfy relations with them!
A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine reveals the following:
28% of doctors have been paid for consulting services, lectures or signing their patients up for clinical trials
80% of doctors commonly accept free food and samples of drugs
94% of doctors have some type of relationship with the pharmaceutical drug industry
One third of doctors were reimbursed by the drug industry for attending professional meetings and/or further education classes
According to a report by Ahari and a colleague, published in PLoS Medicine
“Reps may be genuinely friendly, but they are not genuine friends. Drug reps are selected for their presentability and outgoing natures, and are trained to be observant, personable, and helpful. They are also trained to assess physicians’ personalities, practice styles, and preferences, and to relay this information back to the company.”
This is very serious stuff!
EVERYTHING IS FOR SALE
The drug sales reps are purposely trained with cutting edge tactics and strategies that will effectively brainwash a doctor for a successful outcome.
Tactics for manipulating physicians are clearly printed out for reps to follow.
For example:
To see the entire chart just use this link:
tactics for manipulating doctors
From the moment a sales rep enters a doctors office the contest begins!
“A photo on a desk presents an opportunity to inquire about family members and memorize whatever tidbits are offered (including names, birthdays, and interests); these are usually typed into a database after the encounter. Reps scour a doctor’s office for objects—a tennis racquet, Russian novels, seventies rock music, fashion magazines, travel mementos, or cultural or religious symbols—that can be used to establish a personal connection with the doctor.”
TO SUM UP
If your doctor is seeing drug reps there is a VERY STRONG likelihood that he/she has been manipulated by the huge multinational drug companies hiding behind their reps and as a result your doctor is probably biased in his attitudes and choices towards the drugs he/she prescribes.
In other words your doctor, perhaps quite unintentionally, does not have a free choice in the medicines he/she prescribes and that means there is the possibility that you may not get the absolute best medicine at the best price.
SO, STAY HEALTHY AND STAY AWAY FROM THE DOCTORS OFFICE!
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Tags: doctors, drugs, health, longevity, nutrition, pharmaceutical drugs, pharmaceutical industry
March 3rd, 2009 at 2:19 am
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May 28th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
I agree, there is a business behind it but we also need to take into account our own actions, don’t you think? Incorporating healthy nutritional habits as well as exercising regularly would be step 1, that will help us have a much better life
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October 22nd, 2010 at 11:16 am
we also need to take into account our own actions, don’t you think? Incorporating healthy nutritional habits as well as exercising regularly would be step 1, that will help us have a much better life
November 27th, 2010 at 4:42 pm
Hi there I loved your post. I think that it’s crucial when discussing diabetes to at least mention natural therapies that have been shown to be efficient in controlling high blood sugar. Numerous natural herbs can be including in a diabetics routine that will help keep a healthy sugar level.
December 15th, 2010 at 6:36 pm
those free samples are beneficial to low income people who rely on those samples for their monthly meds. Yes high cholesterol and diabetes are preventable in many, but not in all. I have high cholesterol and am borderline diabetic. My father and grandfather are both diabetic. I exercise, am not obese and have a decent diet. Despite being educated and outwardly healthy, I see my doctor frequently. Be careful what generalizations you make.
On a professional level I am a nurse and a sales rep. Free lunches are a courtesy for the busy healthcare professionals time. Pens are rarely given out anymore and we nurses miss that since the institutions we work for do not provide them for us. When I was a sales rep, I did develop friendships with many of my customers. That is human nature. As far as cars, cell phones, laptops, big expense accounts, and other perks, I used to drive roughly 700-800 miles per week, spend 100s of minutes on the cell phone and on the computer. If I had to pay for all of those things out of pocket, I would be spending more just to go to work than I was being paid. Average work week was 50 hours..usually 60. When I was a rep, I did not get a car from the company, though I did get a car allowance and gas reimbursement. The car allowance was $440/month plus .15/mile and gas reimbursement. My car payment was 240/month; car insurance 100/month; 6 oil changes/year at $25 each; that is about 4100 a year direct cost for transportation, and 10,730 income from car allowance and reimbursement left me in the black until I had to replace my transmission and engine. In 08 I was laid off and still drive that same vehicle that has almost 200k miles on it and a total of 2 engines and the one transmission. Not as great as it may seem. Most sales reps are ethical people who provide a great resource to the medical field.