Which should be the principles that a Pharma company must embody?

The survey gives end users the opportunity to speak their views regarding how the pharmacy companies treat the users, and what they think of the guidance and product information given in the packets.

Also the chance to give details of side effects and any concerns about contra- indications.

The end users have a chance to give their views, ttfn from Karen.

I would have thought it was your GP or health provider give the best information not the drug manufacturer. Selection of the right drugs has to be left with medical professionals. As to over the counter medicines, buyer beware as most are simple rip offs that don't work any better than non branded medicines, why waste your money?

robjmckinny

supposing your doctor changed your drugs one Monday morning and you discovered hed spent the weekend at a 5star hotel as guest of the drug company, making use of their golf course would you still think your doctor give the best information??

My best friend is a doctor he would never give his weekend to a drug company, but there is no shortage of takers Doctors are ruining the NHS with prescribing over expensive drugs, inappropriate for patients.

I HAVE A FRIEND who tested for a drug company a kind of bracelet that drips into his wrist continual doses of insulin he had great benefits from this but at the end of the trial they took the bracelet from him offering him a discounted rent to keep it he could not afford it, he has been ill now for the 3 months since it was taken away.

Big pharma have no principals they are worse than tobacco companies they have no morals either they see doctors as people who can write pieces of paper that bring them vast profits and drug companies don't mind giving doctors a comfortable weekend having nice chats on golf courses with company reps.

Just be warned my illness has made m a junkie to these bastards my life depends on them I hate them with a passion.

Geoff

Geoff speaks a lot of sense. The drug companies make billions from us! Sadly not enough of us question the meds we are on, if it's really needed and why. I feel annoyed at the treatment towards Geoff s friend and the bracelet, it's shameful. 

Geoff

I personally have found GPs totally incompetent in their methods of diagnoses and when I had first concerns of diabetes my GP at the time, he refused to test me. Two years later I borrowed my Mother in Laws blood monitor and tested myself, my blood sugars were over 25. I just buried my brother earlier this year after an incompetent GP issued pain killers for continual pain issues in his back. Two years along and a different GP realised what it was and referred him to hospital, he died a terrible painful death from a treatable cancer but simply caught it to late. My Mother died the same from incompetent doctors from cancer 10 years earlier. So yes I can appreciate naff GPs, I was diagnosed with cancer last year and I insisted that I was referred to experts. After agonising treatment I am alive and in remission.

But  the NHS and NICE decide what chemicals we can implant in our bodies and not so much the GP. If there is a drugs trial the GP/Doctor has to follow specific policies and does need the patient permission. If a GP/Doctor went off piste testing patients, they leave themselves open to criminal charges. GPs have a big book which tells them every drug available within the NHS, it nicely describes the drug, symptoms, side effects etc. so he/she can make an informed decision and whether to prescribe. The NHS are quite draconian on which drugs can be prescribed and very much doubt there is a lot of latitude for the GP or drug companies. Now if you are saying the drug companies push particular brands that does the same job with NICE guidelines, who should care or worry? 

Through my cancer treatment I was restricted on how drugs could enter my body and found the GPs totally incompetent and lacked the expertise to resolve issues. I spent many long hours speaking to the chemist to see what drug was suitable for me to consume, then I had to go to the GP for a prescription. Again my diabetes became an issue and had to cancel half my chemo and looked for other answers to control my blood sugars. The GPs proved totally incompetent and found the hospital and district specialised nurses far superior at getting the right drugs.

So ultimately no I don't fear GPs experimenting with drugs, I have taken part in plenty of drug trials with my permission. My concern is the incompetence of the GP who is to low skilled in specific areas that only a specialist has such skills. So your GP is only someone who issues drugs but more importantly can refer you to specialist who can help and identify your problems. The real fear is not drugs but the GP fails to test or identify you symptoms, this has been widely published in the media causing enormous deaths from treatable diseases. That is where my concern lies with lots of personal experience, thank goodness for the internet which in many cases superior to the GP!