Dollars for Docs/msquaredb's situation

mssquaredb's post about getting diagnosed with depression and anxiety by an NP and prescribed an antidepressant in spite of having symptoms that were screaming for a sleep study, reminded me that because many medical professionals get money from consulting with drug companies, that their diagnoses of patients will be influenced by that relationship. Obviously, I can't say that is what happened in his/her case but it is something for everyone to be aware of. Here is a link that enables you to see if your doctor or the medical institution you deal with has taken money from drug companies.

http://projects.propublica.org/docdollars/

I do realize there are great doctors who do take money from drug companies. And there are lousy ones who don't take anything. But his/her situation with the NP was so blatant that it did make me wonder if drug company money is an issue.

49er

49er

I have observed over the years that doctors tend to get some education from drug company reps and to lean that way when prescribing. I don't think financial motivations are nearly as important as the press to see more patients in less time and not to have sufficient hours to keep up with all the medical literature especially if it is somewhat peripheral to their main practice focus.

It reminds me of the old saying that to the man with only a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
It's a narrowness of vision problem.

I wonder if the requirements for NP have been reduced lately.
The particular NP could be suspected as somewhat incompetent, IMHO.
This may not always be the case, as I had a PA make an important diagnosis the doctor had missed.

Look, there are always bad days and bad docs. This one isn't working for the OP. I suggest the OP go back to his/her plan and go find a sleep specialist and ask to see them directly.

This NP might have a drug company affiliation - he/she might also be having a bad, stressful day and gave bad service that day.

It's tough to judge. But it seems clear the OP knows this NP isn't one for him.
B.

Pharmaceutical companies frequently fund medical research.

Thank you all for your responses.

JDS74, fair points and my 2nd sleep doctor is a perfect example of that. But having discovered that he does consultations with Cephalon, I would think that would be a relevant factor if in a hypothetical situation he was pushing that med on me if I complained about EDS instead of trying to help me fine tune my therapy when there was still things that could be done.

Chunky Frog, I did wonder if it was just due to plain old incompetence. But pushing an antidepressant very hard did make me wonder about drug company affiliations when the OP practically gave the nurse the diagnosis.

However Babette could simply be right about this NP being a bad medical professional and there is simply no explanation.

SU, it is true that drug companies fund medical research. Unfortunately, alot of it has been corrupt in my opinion. Google Paxil 329. You also might find this website interesting, http://www.badscience.net/about-dr-ben-goldacre/.

49er

chunkyfrog wrote:I wonder if the requirements for NP have been reduced lately.
The particular NP could be suspected as somewhat incompetent, IMHO.
This may not always be the case, as I had a PA make an important diagnosis the doctor had missed.

Chunkyfrog,
The requirements for NPs was increased to require a minimum of a Masters degree and that hasn't been decreased. I'm a retired RN and PA. One issue is that sleep medicine is not an area that gets much attention. When I went through PA training, I don't recall any lectures on OSA or sleep related issues.

We, as informed OSA sufferers, probably know more then your average MD, NP or PA who isn't involved in sleep medicine. As awareness increases, I would hope education would increase. Perhaps that particular NP had a limited old school view of OSA...which is that it's primarily a disease of the obese.
J