Salman Al-Omari
IN a seminar on the role of the health sector in enhancing integrity and combatting corruption, which was held recently in Riyadh, the Deputy Health Minister accused some pharmaceutical companies of bribing some doctors and ministry officials. What is worse is that some of those officials under fire own pharmaceutical companies. The ministry is working on setting an anti-corruption strategy and updating its regulations to maximize penalties.
A doctor who scribbles the name of a certain medication on the prescription knows exactly how effective this medication is. It is natural that the doctor will insist that the patient uses this medication, not other ones.
Unfortunately, it is not like that anymore. Some doctors try to promote the medications of certain companies in exchange for profits and other benefits.
Let me explain to you how this happens. When a doctor sees a patient and makes a diagnosis, he will give the patient a free sample of the medication and ask him to use this instead of purchasing medicine. The patient is happy and thanks the doctor. The problem is that the patient might need this medication again. Of course, he cannot get another free sample and this time he has to go to the pharmacy and buy it over the counter, only to discover how expensive it is.
If the patient complains to the doctor about the exorbitant price of the medication, the doctor will ask him to prioritize health and not money. But why would a famous and renowned doctor stoop to this level and work as a medical representative for pharmaceutical companies?
The simple answer is that there are mutual benefits and interests that are at play. Giving free samples to patients is an effective advertisement method. It reflects the doctor’s sympathy with patients and increases the number of patients who will tell their family members and friends about the doctor. Pharmaceutical companies also benefit because their medications sell well.
One of my friends told me that a well-known doctor prescribed an expensive medication for his daughter and even told him which pharmacy sold it. When my friend went to the pharmacy to buy this medication, the pharmacist asked him if such and such a doctor had prescribed it. Surprised and shocked, my friend nodded his head affirmatively. My friend wanted to know how the pharmacist knew that this doctor, in particular, was the one who had prescribed this medication.
The pharmacist explained to my friend how the doctor was getting paid a huge amount of money by the pharmaceutical company in addition to gifts and a lot of other benefits. The pharmacist also told my friend that the same medication is manufactured locally under a different name and has the same effects at a cheaper price.
I am not against pharmaceutical companies that want to make profits, but I am against making profits at the expense of a patient’s health and financial status. Some patients are poor and cannot afford expensive medications.
