Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Special bonus: strippers!

Once we rid the world of drug advertising, everything will be perfect. You won't ask for prescriptions you don't need. Drug costs will come down. And your doctor can go on getting paid the kickbacks he so richly deserves: "companies employ a variety of financial ruses to pay doctors who use their devices, a practice that medical and legal experts say is unethical and possibly illegal. But despite industry efforts to clean up such practices, the documents and accusations made by former Medtronic employees suggest that the problem persists and may have gotten worse."

Payments range as high as $700,000 and can include other rewards: "When the doctors visited Memphis, she said, Medtronic employees would take them to a local strip club, PlatinumPlus, disguising the expenses as an evening at the ballet."

But don't you worry about it. Senator Bill Frist always says that doctors know best. And we should trust him. Because he's a doctor.

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