Price of a hard on.

DZ has noticed, purely professionally, that Sildenafil is now available over the counter. When you look at the pharmacology of the drug there's no reason why it shouldn't be. But you do wonder why the drug companies are so supportive of this move. Could it just be that the basic cost of the generic version of this drug is about 40p a tablet. So an NHS prescription costing £8.80 could provide 22 tablets and the taxpayer would break even. Similarly a private prescription could provide 50 tablets for £20.

Buying Viagra over the counter will get you just 4 tablets for £20, or £5 each.

You don't suppose it's all just a con to protect someone's profit margins do you?

Medical dishonesty

Another case for the "some doctors will do anything for money" file. Regular readers here will be aware that DZ has a somewhat cynical view of his own profession, and the motivations of at least some of his colleagues.

So reading about this case came as no surprise to him. Insurance fraud is now becoming quite a big thing these days and, DZ is pleased to see the insurance companies starting to fight back.

The claim was described in court as "blatantly false". But it could not have proceeded without the encouragement of a claims management company. We've all had calls from these parasites, wanting to generate spurious claims from nothing. DZ enjoys immensely responding appropriately to these leeches. They also had their own tame solicitor. One wonders if the Solicitor's Regulation Authority has a procedure for those who act dishonestly.

We of course have the GMC.

It is clear that the claim was fully supported by a doctor, who must have been fully aware that the claim was false, but went ahead anyway for the money. This one case is just the tip of the iceberg. Pretty much every false personal injury claim made, be it a holiday claim, accident at work, traffic incident or whatever, has to have the collusion of a crooked doctor. The GMC good practice guide is quite clear on what it expects.

"71. You must be honest and trustworthy when writing reports, and when completing or signing forms, reports and other documents.²² You must make sure that any documents you write or sign are not false or misleading.

a. You must take reasonable steps to check the information is correct.

b. You must not deliberately leave out relevant information."

Time to start acting on this I think boys!