The Lunchtime Drug Deal

Note from Dr. Shiraki: This is a guest post written by Dr. Robert Skouson from Lapeer, Michigan.  He is a great friend and an awesome chiropractor.  You may contact him at (810) 664-1111.

There has never been a better time to be a chiropractor.  To think that we have been trained to help the body express the fullness of life is amazing to me.  In my practice (as I am sure is common to a lot of practices), I have a tough time helping people to understand that health doesn't come from a lotion, potion, or pill.  But, once a patient “gets it," a whole new world is opened up to them.  A world where they finally understand that the body has an innate ability to heal itself when the interference is taken away.

Which brings me to a very peculiar experience I had recently.  My wife and I went to lunch at a local seafood restaurant (not as fresh a seafood selection as one might see in Hawaii, I am sure) and we were seated in our favorite spot.  Sitting next to me I noticed one of the more well known medical doctors from our area.  He was sitting with two VERY attractive women.  It was evident from their conversation that they were representatives from a drug company.  I tried very hard not to listen in on the conversation, but what they were discussing made me question medicine as a standard of care.

The conversation went something like this:

“Well doctor, I just really love coming here to visit you.  You are one of my favorite people to hang out with, but besides buying your lunch, we do have a little bit of business we need to handle before you get back to your office.”  She then went on to ask the following, “So do you use our approved forms when talking to your patients?”  He responded that he didn't feel very comfortable using the forms because he was not a mental health care specialist.  The drug rep then said, “Well, as you know, if they answer yes to any one of the 12 questions, then you can safely assume that they are clinically depressed and you are able to then prescribe the anti-depressant that we manufacture.  But as we all know, those drugs have sexual side effects, and that is why we are here today.  We would like to discuss _______," then she named the erectile dysfunction drug.  She talked about how it worked much better than the leading drug, had fewer side effects etc.  She then gave him a packet of coupons which would allow the patient to trade straight across pill for pill if they were using another brand of drugs. She also gave the doctor a bag full of “samples".

The doctor made a little joke to which both the women laughed (way overboard in my opinion) and he excused himself to go back to his clinic.  The first drug rep (who appeared to be flirting the whole time with the doctor) acted very sad to see him go.  She got up and gave him a full body hug.  Not the little “A frame” or what I call the “cheerleader hug”, but one that definitely had an air of physicality that was highly inappropriate for any business setting.  The doctor seemed very happy to receive the embrace. As he left the restaurant, he seemed to be floating on cloud nine.

My wife and I were in shock.  The encounter seemed less like a business meeting and more like a date. Can you imagine his thought process the very next time a patient came in for treatment.  I think he would say something like this to himself, “Wow, that rep was very, very pretty.  She bought me lunch, she laughs at my jokes.  If I want to see her more often, then all I have to do is put down on my prescription pad the name of the drug she represents and she will come and visit me more often."

The thought occurred to me that in that particular doctor's office, are the decisions being made by the doctor or by the drug company?  If you think about it, in the medical community, there is no money in healthy people and there is no money in dead people.  All the money is in the middle.  The whole conventional medical system is set up to keep people sick.  Every drug has a side effect, which opens up the ability to legally purchase another drug to fight that side effect.  That is a one way ticket in a downward spiral of declining health.

I have a patient who is a drug rep for a chemo therapy drug manufacturer.  I was talking to her about the experience I had and she sat down and lined out the behind the scenes training for the reps.  She said that each doctor has a file on him or her which tells the rep the best way to “play” them.  Some doctors are persuaded by stunning facts and figures and the science behind the drugs.  Some doctors are all about the relationship with the smiling drug rep.  Some doctors can be influenced by “gifts” brought into their offices in the form of samples, flowers, pens, lunch for the staff etc.  Most interesting is that in some drug programs, the top prescribing doctors get an all expenses paid trip for them and their family to a island in the Caribbean in the dead of winter (a REALLY  big deal here in Michigan) to attend a “medical conference”.  Now, if you had the chance to jet away to a luxury filled island for an all expenses paid “medical conference” when it is -10 degrees and all you had to do was put a specific name on your prescription pad, would you do it?

Lastly (and I hope I haven't bored you yet), I have a few patients who are pharmacists.  I was joking with one a while ago about him trying a new drug when it comes out.  He looked at me very seriously and said that he would never do that.  I asked him why and his response has haunted me since.  He said, “Dr. Rob … those drugs are for selling not for taking."  I asked him to clarify his statement and he basically told me that knowing what he knows about drugs and interactions, that his mindset was that the less medication you take the better your life will be.  I asked him what he does if his kids get a high fever.  He said, “I let them ride it out."  Strange isn't it.  He makes his living by selling a product that he himself would not take.

That is about it from the thawing out North.  I hope that the people of Oahu know how lucky they are to have the second best chiropractor in the world among them.  Remember, the power that made the body has the power to heal the body.  Healing is from the inside, not from a lotion, potion, or pill you get from someone who doesn't care about you.  The power even the average chiropractor has to change the expression of life is worth everything.

This is a mission of love.