LINK: the pharma chronicles part xv
I lost all the previous chronicles but I remember leaving off at fourteen so here we are at fifteen.
If you’re new to the chronicles installment, these are pharmaceutical speaker programs that involve a guest speaker lecturing health care workers about the medication that they’re peddling: benefits, risks, indications, data from clinical trials on efficacy, safety, and adverse effects, followed by a Q&A. They are heavily monitored for FDA compliance and there is no discussion of off-label uses. For the most part, I usually leave knowing one new fact about the medication.
With new drugs being introduced every year, it’s hard to keep up with the latest. And I do enjoy staying informed so that I know about the options that are available. These dinner programs offer real-time opportunities to ask questions to knowledgeable speakers and hear feedback from others in different organizations. They share information on a variety of ways to obtain the medication if patients are under financial constraint via patient assistance program or coupons that are readily available. Side note: I find this a great place to network. I also only attend the dinners with renowned guest speakers I low-key fangirl over.
As for the dinners themselves, it’s usually at a nice steakhouse or other upscale restaurants in a private room. The meals are pre-fixe and usually offer four courses of foods and drink (non-alcoholic) are included. If there’s valet parking, they’ll cover the cost but not the tip. It’s kinda funny, I’ve had pharmaceutical representatives asking me where they should host their dinners because they don’t want to keep having them at the same ole place.
Goat cheese + artichoke dip – sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, goat cheese
Seared ahi tuna – English cucumber, complemented with mustard-beer sauce
Steak house salad – baby lettuce, garlic croutons, grape tomatoes
11 oz filet center cut corn-fed Midwestern beef with lobster tail
Mashed potatoes with a hint of roasted garlic
Creamed spinach
I opted out of the dessert, which was cheesecake.
There are medications that have hit the market that many people may have interest in that I’ll share in the future. I have to consolidate all the data and that takes time, which I currently don’t have. P.S. It’ll be up to people to do their own research, however, because everyone’s situation differs.
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