What the doctor ordered

[bemildred]

Your doctor gives you an expensive new drug to control your cholesterol, or recommends a certain brand of artificial hip, or says you need a stent to open a clogged artery.

He's the expert. But how do you know his expertise is untainted? The makers of the drug, the replacement hip or the stent may have paid your doctor to deliver promotional talks extolling the virtues of the product. Or they could be paying him, or her, to consult on marketing plans. It doesn't necessarily follow, of course, that this kind of moonlighting influences the treatment you receive. And many doctors don't accept these kinds of payments. But if yours does, wouldn't you like to know that?

As it stands, doctors don't have to tell you if they're working with the makers of the products they're prescribing you. They don't have to tell you whether they own stock in those companies or do research on their behalf.

There's no place for you — the patient — to find out whether your doctor is prescribing more drugs or medical devices made by companies with whom he has a relationship.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-ornstein-doctors-payments-20110908,0,2056950.story

[MineralMan]

1. Find another doctor, if that happens.

If your doctor doesn't recommend a conservative approach to whatever problem you have, then find a new one. In most cases where a medication is indicated, there is a proven generic medication that has worked for enough years that it is no longer protected by the original patent. Only if that medication doesn't do the job should your physician recommend the latest new release from the pharmaceutical companies.

Your primary care physician should be someone who starts with conservative treatment for most problems. Naturally, if you have a life-threatening crisis illness, then you don't necessarily have that option, but for most things, the old standard treatments are probably the best solution. If such a treatment isn't what the doctor recommends, ask if there isn't a more conservative approach available. If the doctor won't consider that, change doctors.