A career in medicine was not the dream I thought it was

in #healthcare7 years ago

I wanted to become a nurse for as long as I can remember. When I was 11 years old I volunteered as a candy striper at the small local hospital across the street from my school. There I was taught how to make beds, filled water pitchers and carried flowers and mail to the patients. After graduating from high school I took it one step further and I became a nurses aide since the local nursing program was financially out of reach. I eventually got married and had my three children but the desire to become a nurse never left my blood, so I enrolled in a nursing program and became an RN. Knowing I could do so much more for the sick and afflicted I finally became a Certified Registered Nurse Practitioner. I graduated from that program feeling that I was really going to make a difference.

As a medical provider with a license to prescribe medication I was a target. Representatives from the Pharmaceutical Companies would shower all the providers with gifts and dinners and everyone swallowed the "pitch" given by the drug rep as gospel, myself included, after all, that attention made me feel important. No one ever questioned and God forbid never reviewed the potential side effects, as a matter of fact I can honestly say that the side effects were NEVER discussed. The samples were left in the office and were immediately prescribed to patients.

This practice made me increasingly uncomfortable, it is a sick feeling when you realize that you are being Bought.

Because of the Sunshine Act of 2010

Pharmaceutical and medical device companies are now required by law to release details of their payments to doctors and U.S. teaching hospitals for promotional talks, research and consulting, among other categories. Use this tool to search for these payments: Dollars for Docs

Because of this Act many physicians declined to see drug reps and perks such as dinners and vacations went out the window.

It is no wonder that now when you sit down to watch your favorite television show you are bombarded with one drug commercial after another.

A post on Medical Daily states that a recent study conducted by researchers at Dartmouth University and the University of Wisconsin and published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, 2014 found that “potentially misleading claims are prevalent throughout consumer-targeted prescription and nonprescription drug advertising on television.” Specifically, the study found that 33 percent of the most emphasized claims in prescription and over-the-counter drug ads were objectively true, 57 percent were potentially misleading, and 10 percent were false. Overall, prescription drug ads presented more objective truth (43 percent) and fewer blatantly false claims (just two percent) than nonprescription drug ads.

I would be remiss if I did not also mention the emotional heartache and wasted dollars because of excessive medical testing.

According to a 2012 report by the Institute of Medicine they estimated that $750 billion—about 30 percent of all health spending in 2009—was wasted on unnecessary services and other issues, such as excessive administrative costs and fraud.

Seek and Find Medicine


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Thanks for sharing your story! It is so intriguing when someone like yourself is able to wake up and make a change. I know many feel trapped due to the investment of time and money or whatever it may be. Thanks again for sharing your experience and journey!

As always thank you for your support and comment.

We still can find bona fide doctors. But soon it will be impossible. I do not go to doctors, because hospitals act on me overwhelmingly.

I find the "upselling" that takes place in the medicine disturbing. Thanks for your comment.

The medicinal condition has turned into a maze of interlocking corporate, clinic, and administrative sheets of executives, penetrated by the medication organizations. Medication organization agents compose sparkling articles about pharmaceuticals, which are then marked by doctors paid abundantly for their collaboration, however they may not know the unfavorable reactions of the medications they advance. The most lethal substances are frequently affirmed to begin with, while milder and more regular choices are disregarded for budgetary reasons. It's demise by pharmaceutical.
Thanks for sharing@marymg2014
Stay blessed
Resteemd and upvoted

Thank you for your comment. Blessings to you as well.

My goodness. I watched the first 15 minutes of that documentary and already I'm outraged. What a world we live in! And we trust the doctors? @ironshield

It is an eyeopener for sure. I hope you watch to the end, and the second one as well.

In our country a similar law was introduced, having drug companies disclose all the payments to medical professionals. However, the pharma guys discovered a loophole - have the big doctors on their boards and the money they receive in that capacity they don't need to make public. Who's to know then?

It is disgusting that greed takes over. When you think of health issues like blood pressure you can see the recommendations change like the wind and it is difficult not to think that sales are behind those recommendations. After being in that arena I do not trust the system because I have seen first hand the manipulation.

I studied usmle i was shocked when i read about statins
The guidelines were mind boggling , if you have bp above this give statin if you have this give statin if you have that give statin .... Why not give everyone statin and get on with it .
Statin is the number one drug in profitability in big farma today ?????

And they only have a couple of side effects???https://statineffects.com/info/adverse_effects.htm

Bcuz it decrease lipids , cell wall is made of lipids , blood brain barrier is made of lipids .
Mediterranean people are among the highest age population bcuz of there high lipid diet ... natural olive oil , lamb's meat that are feed naturally and so on .

Let food be thy medicine!

Yes

A female doctor I know was so discouraged she became a nutritionist. I am a big advocate of various alternative health practices. This is an excellent post and should be shared on many media. Thanks for this.

Thanks for your supportive comment. I too look for alternative practices for my health care needs.

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