Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Don't Weep for All the Doctors Yet

One or the typical and regular cries against sensible changes to our country's health care system is "But what about the doctors?!" or some form of that, most often heard in relation to the "tort reform" scam that says doctors are being forced out of business because of huge insurance costs due to medical malpractice lawsuits. (Just one small view here.)

Here's a new wrinkle:

Two of the world’s largest drug companies are paying hundreds of millions of dollars to doctors every year in return for giving their patients anemia medicines, which regulators now say may be unsafe at commonly used doses.


Does that scream "tort reform" or "health care reform" to you? More:

Doctors receive the rebates after they buy the drugs from the companies. But they also receive reimbursement from Medicare or private insurers for the drugs, often at a markup over the doctors’ purchase price.


Hey - what about the doctors?

No comments: