Reining in the drug companies

By Ed Gogek, MD

The soaring price of prescription drugs keeps pushing health care costs higher. But to bring costs down, we first have to understand how drug companies have manipulated America into giving them a bigger share of our income every year.

According to the Washington Post, 90 percent of the money to educate doctors who are out in practice comes from drug companies. When drug companies run physician education, they only teach the latest and most expensive drugs, and that's all doctors learn to prescribe. That's why Americans are on such expensive medications, even when cheaper ones are superior. And that's why prescription prices and insurance premiums have doubled in only a few years. With drug companies running education, American doctors are only learning to prescribe the most expensive drugs.

For example, research shows that omega-3 fish oils reduce the risk of death following a heart attack by 20 percent. So in Europe , that's what all doctors prescribe; not to would be malpractice. But in the U.S. , only 17 percent of doctors use omega-3s. Most U.S. doctors never even heard of this research. But, thanks to the drug companies, they've all been taught how to prescribe the new, expensive cholesterol-lowering medicines.

The largest study of blood pressure medicine ever done found that the best drug to prevent stroke and heart disease is a 50-year old generic water pill called hydrochlorothiazide. But today most American doctors prescribe brand name drugs that cost ten times as much and don't work as well.

To bring down the cost of health care, we have to take medical education back from the drug companies. The state of Arizona could do this, by offering doctors conferences where the experts are not on drug company payrolls. We could bring in researchers who are expert on generic medications, on diet and nutrition, on prevention, and on proven alternatives. This would counter the huge influence drug companies have over doctors and our prescribing practices. And it makes sense—why should drug companies be in charge of medical education!

Most doctors I know would be glad to learn the research on something besides the latest and most expensive drugs. Many have spent so many years listening to the drug companies, they'd actually be surprised to learn that other research exists. By sharing this knowledge with doctors and giving them more tools, we'd improve health care. And by teaching them about less expensive alternatives that often work better, we'd lower costs.

But we need political leaders willing to stand up to the pharmaceutical industry. Instead, the party in power has given away the store. Under George W. Bush, the FDA has slowed generic approvals to a crawl, while the new, expensive drugs zip right through. We're the only country that lets drug companies advertise on TV. Then there's the Medicare doughnut hole, the law against buying meds from Canada, and the law that keeps states from negotiating lower prices—all gifts from our elected leaders to the drug companies. That's why we have the most expensive health care system in the world.

By electing legislators who put us first, we could instead have the security of good health care that's affordable for everyone. Our broken system isn't written in stone. We can fix it. But we need leaders willing to take health care back from the drug companies, not give them free rein. And that's one more reason we need change.

Ed Gogek, MD has practiced medicine in Arizona for 15 years and is the Democratic candidate for State Senate in District 4. His website is votegogek.com.