Why some patients think generics “don’t work“:
In a provocative 82-patient study, researchers at MIT found that a dummy pill carrying a $2.50 price tag eases pain much more effectively than an identical pill that patients believe costs just 10 cents.
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- Poll: Should doctors discuss the price of medical treatment?
- De-facto price controls
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Which is why most people are better off without insurance coverage for drugs. Insurance coverage naturally means the insurance company pressures or forces you to use the cheapest drug, leaving many people actually more symptomatic as well as resentful. Better to be happier, non-resentful, less symptomatic, with a thinner wallet.
The same can be said for wine. The same bottle of wine, priced higher, is perceived to also taste better.
http://www.sciam.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=7A81E74F-E554-39DF-62E0C6F540A3CDF8
Perception is everything.
I wonder…if patients were to pay out-of-pocket, would they perceive lower-costing primary care physicians differently from those that are more costly?
A study of only 82 patients proves nothing. About as credible as those “4 out of 5 doctors surveyed…” TV commercials.
I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t opt for the cheaper generic. Many people are also now buying higher dosage pills and splitting them in order to save some money.
I have many patients who demand branded drugs when a generic is available and just as effective. I think they see it as extracting extra value from their service, that is as long as their insurer is paying for it and the co-payment for them is the same.
Insurance is a moral hazard that undermines personal responsibility and maturity. Is it dispite that, or because of that, that politicians want to force everyone to have it.
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