Friday Night Fights!!!!

Okay, so who you gonna believe?

Team A: Come play for us and we'll buy your boots and beer.

Team B: Come play for us and we'll give you cash.

Before Rugby became professional in 1995, the cash handed to players was called "boot money." Legend had it that the club would place some notes in the boots of a player inside the clubhouse changing room. An under-the-table system, but well known to exist.

This is how Big Pharma influences MDs. Have you ever met an ugly Drug Rep?

Big Pharma can't give MDs money directly. They get around that with dinners, speaking fees, trips, free samples, etc. Why? So the MDs prescribe NAME-BRAND R/x. Big Pharma charges typically 3 times as much for Named-Brand vs. generic. And the insurance companies are contracted to pay for the R/x of either kind.

The Health Insurance Industry has decided to fight dinner with money. The HI Industry is offering MDs CASH to prescribe GENERIC R/x. This will save the patient money in the long-run, since the HI company is spending less on R/x. This savings should reflect in premiums.

Cash or dinner? I'll take the cash and get my own dinner.