Medical Corruption
We are finding area after area in medicine that is corrupted by money. This includes the following:
- Medical researchers who are paid to assign their names to pre-written papers
- A massive number of side effects not reported to the FDA
- A comp system that promotes doctors to perscribe the most expensive drugs
- Free samples designed to get patients on the most expensive drugs
- Pharmaecutical companies that illegally extend their patents
- Misleading TV advertizing for me-too or copycat drugs
What Kind of Corruption is Ok?
Something we can’t figure out is why corruption is accepted in some areas of society, but rejected in others. Why is the corruption of say, Mexican cops is understood as bad while corruption at American institutions is considered ok? It could be because it feels better to think other countries have corruption, while yours is not. After all, Saddam Hussain had to be releived of WMDs that he did not have, while the country with the most WMDs in the world (the US) got to keep theirs.
Maybe corruption only counts if you are brown and have low social status, but ok if you are well educated and white. Corruption is ok if you are well dressed, but bad if you are unattractive. As Chris Rock once said — “its all right cause its all white.”
Mexican cops are corrupt. They take money from people and accept payment on the spot, rather than taking people in to jail, at least for minor offenses. Every American knows this is wrong.
This particular physician is paid by pharmaecutical companies to perscribe the most expensive medications to patients. Instead of perscriping a generic statin, he perscribes Crestor. Instead of a generic alpha blocker, he perscribes Flomax. He also receives several free trips to Hawaii per year, a $300,000 drug testing and perscription comp from several pharmaceutical companies who’s drugs he perscribes as well as frequent visits from extrodinarily beautifal pharma reps. However, before you judge consider this. He has a medical degree. He is white, and has nice teeth and great hair. The college ring on his finger is from an ivy league school and he drives a Porche. Is this really corruption? Not according to American sensibilities. Americans have a different word they use for people like this. The term is “successful.”
