So I sucked on a pancreas and a liver. (Paging Dr. Qadgop!)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

So I was going on a trip with my in-laws in a car with me sitting on the back, and I overheard this conversation:

*He: Mmm honey I think you gave a hemorrhoid!

She: No, no, no, what you have there is a stomach!

He: No really, look at the round bunches there: it is a hemorrhoid!

She: Just eat it anyhow!!!

Me: Uh, guys I am afraid to ask: what are you eating?

He: Does this look like a hemorrhoid to you?

Me: (Looks at the item: ) with a sense of relief I say, “I believe it is a Pancreas!!!”

She: Here: have a Liver!!!*

I tell you: I do not know if the freebies that the drug companies give to the medical professionals, to peddle their drugs, are made by geniuses or the spawn of Satan!

If you have not figured out yet: the items were MINTS in a metal container like Altoids but the mints were in the shape of human organs! I did not see what drug company was responsible for those “curiously strongly offensive to some people” mints.
My relative works at a medical office and she get the freebies doctors leave behind: like a creepy stomach plush toy that her little daughter curiously likes!

As for me: I did not consider those mints offensive, what rubs me wrong is to think just how much money do drug companies use in a year from doing these wacky items?

[Mini rant] enough to give cheaper drugs to the elderly?[/mini rant]

I wonder if Qadgop the Mercotan, our resident doctor, still gets those “presents” from drug companies even though he is a doctor working in a jail? Do jailbirds get any freebies that he discards?

I bet Hannibal Lecter would be amused.

[sub]Ok, maybe that was TMI[/sub]

:slight_smile:

2

Maybe they should be called “the mints that make you rather curious to see them!”

Heh heh heh, you ate a hemorrhoid. :stuck_out_tongue:

3

As a former courier for a local clinic here. I used to see (and get) all of this stuff. Plush toys, fridge magnets with timer clocks, food, candy, clipboards, things that blinked etcetcetcetcetc…

And PENS! Not just cheap bics with some drug name either. Pens that I have seen in the office supply stores selling for $3-$5 a piece. Bucket loads of them. (Of course with some drug name on them. My favorite is the Viagra pen. Writes nicly and is heavy enough to kill a man if thrown properly.)

The Drug Reps would buy lunch for the entire clinics, and ply the doctors with tickets to concerts, sporting events etc.
I got as much of the stuff as I could. My wife has several conditions that lead to a $200+ pharmacy bill every month. I figured I was getting some back. The docs and nurses didn’t care, as they were piled with the stuff.

Now that I am working in our Hospital, I don’t see that stuff as much. The hospital has a “No Gifting” policy. As the Vendors Guide says, “We would rather you use your resources for cost control.” or some such.

I agree.

4

Dammit, I want a nice plushie stomach.

All I ever get from my job is free liquor.

5

Well, hi lel!

If it was a hemorrhoid then we could not call those candy makers candivals uh? :stuck_out_tongue:

::ducks rotten tomatoes::

6

Pfizer always has the best pens. I got a couple of really nice Zoloft pens the other day.

Drug swag has never bothered me, and I confess that I take advantage whenever I can. My take is that as long as advertising doesn’t override sound clinical judgement, then it’s the companies’ right to do whatever they can.

Take Prozac, Zoloft, and Paxil, for instance. While different ones work best in different people, there was a good study recently (can’t remember the journal) saying that they were all equally effective and had very similar side effect profiles. Thus, picking which of these to use first is not a matter of clinical judgement, but of picking one at random, so why shouldn’t the drug companies advertise and try to attract business? It’s the same story with Claritin vs. Allegra vs. Zyrtec, or for the PPIs (Prevacid, Prilosec, etc.).

How would you feel if your doctor said, openly, “All these antihistamines are about the same as far as cost and effectiveness. If there’s no formulary issue, no cost difference, and the patient doesn’t request another one for some reason, I always write for Allegra. They keep me in samples, and they bought me a really great steak last week.”

I don’t see it as any different than McDonalds serving Coca-Cola products exclusively.

Dr. J

7

Fancy meeting you here, GIGObuster, at the same time in which I have a bag of rotten tomatoes :smiley:

Here, have a colon, and not a punctuation mark either!:stuck_out_tongue: