We did it! We're number two! AKA "What it's like to be a Drug Dealer"

I know I promised to write more. I got all your hopes up, and then dashed them with my conspicuous absence. Well, despair no longer! Not that it's an excuse, but I was in Las Vegas, in what we in the pharmaceutical call a POA. I've never quite figured out what POA stands for on my own ("no Bob .... it's not Piece of Ass.") Apparently, it's "Plan of Action." My personal "Plan of Action" was to use our Presidents "Stimulus Plan" to "stimulate the hell out of Craps tables." Ok, maybe not the best use of the money, since that "plan of action" "stimulated the ire of my wife" to "Mushroom cloud laying Motherfucker" levels, but hey listen, I was just following our commander in Chief's orders. A Real American am I.

Now- for those of you just recently tuning in- I am a pharmaceutical representative. To sum my job up in a nutshell- I go and see doctors (or other prescribers, such as Nurse Practitioners or Physician Assistants) and give them good reasons to write my drug over other options. I currently work as a "Medical Institutional Representative" (I think that's my title anyway)- which means I work in Hospitals. This ups the skill set required to actually educating Nurses on administration, and doing all sorts of other tasks to ensure that a hospital uses my drug as per national guidelines, and uses it the right way.

Basically, I tell folks why and how my stuff keeps people alive, and how to make sure that they do it safely.

So imagine my chagrin when I learned, during a meeting at this POA, that the occupation/industry I work in- for more than ten years mind you- ranked second on the "most reviled" list in America. Arms manufacturers squeaked out the top spot.

Understand, that puts us ahead of the tobacco and the oil industry. And gambling. And Politicians. And Lawyers fer chrissakes.

I get some of the hatin' though. The drug industry is bloated- but I think far FAR less than other industries previously mentioned- throw in Financial as well. Not that being slightly less bloated is a good excuse for throwing away money. There are some ne'erdowells in our industry that cover things up. Those people should be strung up as well. But look at the overall intent of the companies, and how the free market competition pretty much excludes cover ups for long (ie, folks from "company A" tend to comb over data from competing "company B", just in case a new drug from company B is safer/more efficacious than the other.)

Two things really need to happen. One- the Pharma (as we call it) industry needs to clean up it's act, or else the government is going to step in for the good of the people. As much of a Libertarian as I am, I have a hard time arguing that a country as affluent as ours should not spend some money protecting it's people from an industry that is potentially harming the population under the veil of helping the population. Two- the pharma industry needs to get some better PR. Life expectancies worldwide are going up. Child mortality worldwide is going up. People are in less pain. And yes, penises are still on the rise, thank you baby jesus.

There is an awful pragmatist in me, and I often have an internal dialogue involving him, and about 75% of the patients who are on the medications that I push. He tells the folks that complain about "the drugs being expensive" or the "drugs have side effects" a simple statement.

"Well, don't take the drugs then."

"Oh but I have XYZ, I need to take them."

"Oh, you mean thing that may cause you A) pain B) organ damage or C) Death? And oh yeah- that "disease" that you have, which has been caused by years of you abusing your own body. Or maybe that disease which- if you went to your doctor more than once every presidential election- could have been prevented?"

"Yeah that disease."

*sarcastically* "oh, yeah, you should get our stuff for free, you're right"

Now, understand, I side with those that argue "Hell, I have a funky chromosome that give me a genetic disposition for this disease, how about me?" I'm also pissed that anyone would not EXTENSIVELY test anything that is vaccinating children, or is administered to pregnant women. I place those people into the other 25%, and I'm willing to throw some of my tax money/wherewithal towards helping these people have a shot at a normal life. I'm also willing to ground the companies that are lax in their safety investigations into mince.

But the other 75%? Go screw. The stuff we give helps you either A) Feel better or B) keep you above the ground as compared to below it.

As you can guess, I'm not going to be part of any new PR move by the industry.

A typical argument is "Well, why should the rich be the only one's to get the benefits?" To which I answer, "Well, they (at least 85% or so of them) earned it, how about them apples?" And, so you know, EVERY... and I'm talking EVERY pharma company out there worth it's weight has an indigent patient program that helps those that are truly lacking in financing. Most of the companies don't even ask for an income verification, including the company that I work for. That means FREE drugs. Yeah, free drugs for poor people.

So put that in your pipe and smoke it.

I know that the pharmaceutical industry has been getting some black eyes recently, and some of them are deserved. It's a fine line to walk, this defense of this multi billion dollar corporate monster.

But cmon, lawyers?