[DRAFT] Clinical Correlation Recommended

[Cretox State]

No regrets.

Clinical Correlation Recommended

Validity: Low intelligence, no universal healthcare, and allows private industry.

Description
Medical school curricula throughout @@NAME@@ have come under heavy fire from the public in recent weeks, due to several groundbreaking new studies from the Facetious Allopathic Research and Manufacturing Association which indicate that doctors tend to prescribe drugs taught to them in medical school at a far higher rate than those not covered.

Option 1
"How else can you possibly explain why every single 'reputable' physician always prescribes Insulin for Type 1 Diabetes?!" demands de-licensed Dr. Bigg, spokesperson for FARMA. "It's clear that the aggressive tactics of pushy professors paid handsomely to talk about drugs are robbing our doctors of the ability to think for themselves! All medical education programs should be forced to remove any mention of pharmacology from the curriculum."

Effect: doctors aren't allowed to tell patients that sneezing on people doesn't cure the common cold

Option 2
"Medical school instruction fails to consider the unique environment of each doctor's office," says lobster enthusiast and primary care provider Dr. Corpy Shill, wearing a watch a bit too nice for her income. "Physicians should receive individualized drug education, ideally from highly-trained pharmaceutical representatives knowledgeable about specific patient demographics. What better way to learn what to prescribe than straight from the manufacturer?"

Effect: @@CURRENCYPLURAL@@ combine with cash receptors in your doctor's wallet to provide fast-acting relief

Option 3
"Growth hormone does... what again?" asks Gully Bulle, who graduated bottom of his class and now goes by "Doctor." "All these drugs and pills and whatsits are so hard to remember. My druggie friend says he really wants to help jog my memory with cups, pens, and fancy new appliances, but the laws won't let him. I think being allowed to bond with reps over coffee, dinner, and all-expenses-paid vacations to Manamana is a good idea too."

Effect: @@LEADER@@ fought the law and the law was changed to make it seem as though it won

Option 4
"Standardization is critical to effective education in any field," asserts retired school superintendent Dr. @@RANDOMNAME, sharpening a row of pencils down to just the right length. "Even though I'm not technically a doctor of medicine, I can firmly say that all medical education programs in @@NAME@@ should follow one unified curriculum that covers every conceivable aspect of being a doctor. Independent thought is really overrated when it comes down to it."

Effect: medical students studying senior care require senior care by the time they graduate

[Cretox State]

Reserved.

[Candensia]

I’m just curious, but could you explain your inspiration for the premise?

[Cretox State]

I’m just curious, but could you explain your inspiration for the premise?

Certainly. It was this John Oliver sketch.

[Australian rePublic]

Wait? Are they prescribing certain brands of medicine, or certain types of medicine? If the latter, why is that a problem? If medicine X cures condition Y, then why is that a problem? I'm not a doctor though, so maybe CWA, who actually is a doctor, might have more to say

[Candlewhisper Archive]

There's a lot of different factors that affect prescribing patterns, but the majority of prescribing doctors qualified from medical school long enough ago that the entire pharmaceutical landscape will have changed multiple times since they qualified. Additionally, ask any doctor, and they'll tell you that most of their prescribing habits are gained while working, not while training. Medication names seem kind of abstract until you are the responsible prescriber. There is a tendency, of course, to stick with treatments that you are used to prescribing. However this doesn't tend to fix you in your ways forever, but rather create a slight latency between new treatments and evidence, and prescribing habits changing. This isn't necessarily bad thing, as new treatments often prove to have problems once they've been in the real world for a while: see celecoxib and rosiglitazone, for examples.

In the UK and other socialised healthcare systems we tend to err towards prescribing the cheapest medicine rather than the best one, because of strong pressures from the money people to ration healthcare spending.
In the US and other private systems, they tend to err towards prescribing medicines that have the highest profit for themselves or their organisations.

Both these tendencies are moderated slightly by best practice, and a lot by the effect of advertising, especially drug reps directly targeting prescribers with paid-for lunches and biased drug presentations.

All in all, the issue as it stands doesn't really ring true.

[Baggieland]

In the US and other private systems, they tend to err towards prescribing medicines that have the highest profit for themselves or their organisations.

So true. I live in a country that doesn't have a national health service. Every time you need to see a doctor, guaranteed you'll be walking away with a bucket load of pills. A friend of mine had the flu a while ago, they wanted him to have an MRI scan!