Dec 12, 2008 6:31 AM GMT
I think my doctor may be prescribing medication unnecessarily or at the very least pushing certain drugs based on his relationship with drug reps.
To explain: I started seeing this doc a few months back. I like his no-nonsense, seemingly straight-talking approach. He's straight, drives a corvette [uggh, i know], wears an earring, and is the sort of guy who starts talking to you before he's even completely in the room, which i like more than the timid, well-mannered sort. My last doctor was nice and extremely polite and i couldn't stand him. Now its like my doc is Rahm Emmanuel.
I thought it was kind of odd when i started going there that half the people in his office were pharma reps, who'd just walk in and stock the closets on their own and they all seemed to know each other and the nurses, receptionists, etc.
But soon after i started seeing him he said alot of men have low testosterone and prescribed me androgel, which my insurance didn't cover and which cost me like $200 (needless to say, i'm not continuing on it, especially since it had no effect whatsoever).
I have had high blood pressure problems in the past and was on medication for a while and recently he put me on another HBP med, which, surprise, isn't covered by my insurance and does not come in a generic and is like $125 a month! This i can't afford if it goes past a few months.
So i wonder what you guys, especially since some of you are pretty wise about medical and professional things, think. Should i keep going to this doc or find another one who i don't get along with as well but who wouldn't make me broke with the prescriptions he writes? A pal even suggested already that i go back to the low cost gay clinic i used when i had no insurance and see if i can see a doc there and tell them i'd pay out of pocket since they don't write absurdly expensive prescriptions. Or, i'm even wondering how legal what he's doing is.
To explain: I started seeing this doc a few months back. I like his no-nonsense, seemingly straight-talking approach. He's straight, drives a corvette [uggh, i know], wears an earring, and is the sort of guy who starts talking to you before he's even completely in the room, which i like more than the timid, well-mannered sort. My last doctor was nice and extremely polite and i couldn't stand him. Now its like my doc is Rahm Emmanuel.
I thought it was kind of odd when i started going there that half the people in his office were pharma reps, who'd just walk in and stock the closets on their own and they all seemed to know each other and the nurses, receptionists, etc.
But soon after i started seeing him he said alot of men have low testosterone and prescribed me androgel, which my insurance didn't cover and which cost me like $200 (needless to say, i'm not continuing on it, especially since it had no effect whatsoever).
I have had high blood pressure problems in the past and was on medication for a while and recently he put me on another HBP med, which, surprise, isn't covered by my insurance and does not come in a generic and is like $125 a month! This i can't afford if it goes past a few months.
So i wonder what you guys, especially since some of you are pretty wise about medical and professional things, think. Should i keep going to this doc or find another one who i don't get along with as well but who wouldn't make me broke with the prescriptions he writes? A pal even suggested already that i go back to the low cost gay clinic i used when i had no insurance and see if i can see a doc there and tell them i'd pay out of pocket since they don't write absurdly expensive prescriptions. Or, i'm even wondering how legal what he's doing is.