In a previous blog I discussed the idea that our health care system is more about marketing than it is about health care. What I gave you was an example of how our system currently works i.e. the news media creates an OMG story that suggests that there is an impending catastrophe. This is followed by news of a new drug or vaccine that was 'rushed' into production to save us all from the ravages of this new threat to life as we know it.
It is the same sales pitch an insurance salesman might use to sell you life insurance, health insurance or flood insurance. In short what he/she or they will do is create a sense of urgency, an emotional need to address the plethora of horrible scenarios that will eventually befall you 'if' you don't have insurance. There are salesmen out there who could sell you tickets to your own funeral but only if you aren't wise to them. A salesman hates an informed consumer. So lets get informed.
It is important to know exactly how our health care system came to be so 'sales' oriented. In the late 1800s there were virtually no regulations on the sale of goods in our nation. This included the sale of cocaine, opium and morphine. You could get cocaine over the counter in various forms from 'snuff', toothache powder and Coca Cola, which was then made per serving, by a pharmacist. 'Coke ads a sparkle to your day'. I should say so. Opium came in the form of Laudinum and was also available over the counter as was morphine.
1885 saw the first efforts of legislation against the sale of these items. The pharmaceutical lobby, yes they existed then to, was extremely powerful for the same reason they are today, wealth...extreme wealth.
At the turn of the 20th century the pharmaceutical companies were billion dollar companies, yes billion with a B. That's a lot of money today and was insane wealth then. From 1885 to 1910 the pharm industry staved of legislative regulation until addiction to these items became epidemic and couldn't be ignored. Cocaine addiction was so prolific that even fictitious characters of the time were depicted as cocaine addicts. Sherlock Holmes being the most recognizable of the era. So how does this translate into today's health care for profit system?
Once it was clear that the sales of cocaine and opium were going to be regulated as prescription only items the pharm industry took steps to address this eventuality. Their first course of action was to create fraudulent diploma mills that were to be used to create an army of 'faux' doctors who could then prescribe their product line. It was so bad that two presidents of the American Medical Association were among these 'faux' doctors.
This action was merely a stop gap measure that was meant to buy time to take over the medical profession who was at that time in the middle an identity crisis and whose most significant advancements were rapid amputations and hand washing. Hand washing was actually scorned by the medical leadership of the time as an unnecessary waist of time. Sad but true.
The pharmaceutical industry took over five major medical colleges and renovated them and changed up the core curriculum to include drug therapy. Once cocaine and opium were made totally illegal they had a range of new drugs based on variations of these drugs to market which in effect expanded their market and consequently their profits. The Pharm has been in control of the practice of medicine since.
The pharmaceutical industry could not have survived the changes had they not partnered up with the medical profession. It is safe to say that medicine would have been a very different looking profession had the Pharm not been such a strong influence on its practice. Since this first example of corporate influence into health care we've seen it expand to include the insurance industry which convoluted into HMOs and PPOs which have proven to be the bane of functional health care. However, they have proven exceptionally profitable for those who operate them.
As a result of all this corporate influence, our system of health care ranks 37th in the world, costs twice as much as any other industrialized nation, and is more scientific about its marketing research than actual health related research.
You have the power to make it change. Do not buy an insurance policy that doesn't guarantee in writing that they will not drop you at their convenience or if you fall ill suddenly or get injured. It is time 'we' make them work for us...make them accountable..if they can't make a profit doing what 'you' have paid them to do. then they are in the wrong business. You have the power to change them. Its your money they are taking to provide a service for you. You aren't paying them to bonus themselves and then shaft you, are you? Your premiums pay their salaries. If enough of their clients stop paying premiums...they just might get the message.
Dr. B
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