The Spawns of Satan...Drug Reps

I have met the spawn of Satan, and they are drug reps. These are the people that drug companies pay to push their products to physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, and other individuals in the health care field. The problem with drug reps is that they aren't physicians and they certainly aren't pharmacists. They're salesmen - no different than Joe Schmoe trying to sell you a new car. The only difference is that when the car salesman swindles you into buying the car, you're stuck with the lemon. When the drug rep swindles a physician into using their product, the public is stuck with the lemon. Today at the pharmacy I encountered a case that I feel is directly related to a Levaquin drug rep. A mother called the pharmacy and wanted to know the price of 9 Levaquin 250mg tablets. I told her the price is $117. (No, you read that right - I said $117 for nine tablets) She was understandably upset. She informed me that she and her daughter had $40 to their name until Friday. I explained some options to them. #1 - I could call her doctor and have the prescription switched to Cipro. #2 - I could sell her 3 Levaquin tablets which would get her through until Friday. The mother preferred option #1, however she was concerned the doctor would not switch. I reassured her that usually when told the patient cannot afford the medication most doctors will switch the drug. She told me that the doctor was very adamant that the patient needed this medication. Her daughter's urinary tract infection had spread to her kidneys and he told her this was the only medication she could use. Even after she told him she could not afford expensive medication and that she only had $40, he still stated that she must use this medication. I told her I would try anyway. An hour later she appeared at the window with her 20 year old daughter and her son. I told her to give me a few minutes and I would call. I called the ER at the local hospital and asked to speak to the doctor's name on the prescription. The nurse acted funny when I asked for that particular doctor. I finally got her to tell me that this particular doctor was not at the hospital today. So to make matters worse, a physician's assistant had seen the patient and used a doctor's prescription pad. Another physician in the ER promptly got on the phone. He agreed with me that the medication should be switched and was not happy that this woman had been given Levaquin in the first place. Sounds to me like the physician's assistant was prescribing what the drug rep had pushed. When I checked the price for 14 Ciprofloxacin 500mg tablets, the cash price was $46 - significantly less than the Levaquin. When I told the mother, she kept thanking me - as did her daughter and her son. I was concerned that the price was $46 - $6 more than she had. The mother had brought her credit card in case the doctor would not switch it. She was going to buy the Levaquin one pill at a time so that her daughter would have medicine. How sad is that??? It was really upsetting for me. If drug reps only knew the ripple effects of their fancy dinners and receptions... They never see the people that are directly affected by their greed. How do these people sleep at night?