Moondog55 wrote:US is very relevant to Australia as we seem to follow on, it's the time lag that confuses us, and that is getting shorter and shorter.
Can you not see laws changing to allow drug/prescription/medical advertising?
Very complicated. I do not like the US model but they do have influence on us. At the same time, I doubt out medical system will match their. There still are fundamental differences.
True that drug/prescription/medical advertising are changing. But I'd say a bit part is not so much the pharmaceutical industry working on the medical profession but their influence on our political establishment. Outside of drugs, if you look at medical advertising, you'll often find that the company that owns those adverts are health providers, but often owned by big business, run by non-medical CEOs. Private investors are buying up big in the medical and dental fields. Many medical doctors and dentists, even with their brass still outside the door, they are in fact working for corporate businesses. As for the government, they are not just easily influenced by big business spenders, but they are primarily interested in reducing their health expenditure. Heavy reduction in medical consultation fees, esp. GPs, simply makes long consultation unviable. To my knowledge, despite their willingness and tries hard, many GPs simply can't afford it. If they join a medical centre, the pressure from the business directors to keep consultations short is even greater. Hence, finding a good traditional GP who is willing to spend his/her time to consult is like finding gold in our current health environment. At the same time, many patients aren't willing to wait in the consultation room for these traditional GPs, and takes their Medicare card to those quick in-out medical centres. So, the problem isn't one sided.