[artplumber]

Worst thing that ever happened to medical care was MEDICARE (or insurance in general).

Why? Before insurance, patients had to pay as they went. This means more money in the system and patients who aren't directly responsible for their own care so they don't take care of themselves.

It's funny how people get sticker shock if they see a physician and had to pay $200 for a new patient eval where the doctor actually talks to them for an hour, but are willing to pony up $500 vet bills for 15 minutes of exam (the patient can't talk) and a few meds...BTW ethical docs don't sell the drugs they are prescribing.

The "huge number" of med interactions resulting in patient problems are hype IMHO. They happen, but not to the extent that the headline seekers would have the general public believe.

And... there were and are unethical docs out there. Travel has become illegal, but that happened fairly recently. It's funny that those raising the stink about it (your ethical congresspersons) still haven't outlawed that kind of relationship for themselves - Abramhoff etc. One part of these supposed "perks" is completely bunk however, and that is that a huge $ amount of questionable "perks" to physicians are samples of drugs that we give to patients. I guess "my samples must make my practice better than Dr Smith's (my samples are better)".