“And some wonder why the docs are so fast to write out the prescriptions? I’m sure that you are aware of all of the “incentives” that the drug companies give them based on the volume of scripts written, that is a huge driver.”
Whoa, that’s incorrect these days, and I know because I am in the industry. What “incentives” can you identify that are currently being given to doctors? Maybe they get a lunch brought in to the office, but surely you don’t think that, after 15 years of higher education and thousands of dollars of student loans to pay back, doctors are going to prescribe a drug they actually believe is not an appropriate med for their patients. There are serious anti-kickback laws that apply to drug companies as well as doctors.
If anything, the insurance companies are driving a lot of physician prescribing habits these days, which is precisely why a lot of folks are ending up on simvastatin 80mg.
The doctor wrote my Zetia prescription so fast and hard that I left his office convinced he was getting some sort of incentive.
On your second point (surely you don’t think that, after 15 years of higher education and thousands of dollars of student loans to pay back, doctors are going to prescribe a drug they actually believe is not an appropriate med for their patients.), perhaps you have a lot more "faith" in them than I do. My curt response would "surely you don't believe that they wouldn't!"
You can believe what you want, and I will believe what I want.