…The main reason the influence of drug companies has become so great is the financial incentives that they present to the clinicians. These incentives have greatly altered the manner by which doctors treat their patients. This is clearly seen in the doctor’s treatment plan. You might be wondering how long these drug companies have been so influential in a doctor’s practice. I would say that the past two decades have seen a marked rise in their pull. This is certainly a recently phenomenon.
Think abut it, a doctor now has the opportunity to make a lot of money by simply prescribing a certain drug. Do these doctors think about creating the best treatment plan for caring for their patients.? Unfortunately, many of them do not. This is especially true for the recent graduates. They have been indoctrinated with the biased “teachings” of the drug companies in their years of schooling and training. These companies also present the doctors with extra incentives like meeting certain criteria set up by the drug company representative. I hope the eyes of the US healthcare consumer is opening up.
How is TCM affected and how is a practitioner, like me, dealing with the tremendous influence of these drug companies on the US healthcare system? First, the TCM practitioner has to realize that it is even more difficult to access the healthcare system when the very Soul of the participants are already compromised. It just makes every participant’s, the Western practitioner and the drug companies, desire to want to seek the value of TCM much more difficult.
What I did was look for ways to make this “conflict of interest” work in my favor. For example, I decided that when I present TCM to prospective patients, I would (and still do) reinforce how TCM practitioners do not face potential conflict of interests with regards to patient care as Western practitioners have due to the influence of drug companies. I explained to them that many doctors now have the monetary incentive to prescribe drugs to patients knowing that it is not the best course of treatment for the patient.
Not only have I opened the eyes of many people but my faith in TCM has been reaffirmed even greater.