Sat. Apr 27th, 2024

Molly Rutherford, MD does a great job explaining how some legislators are in the pockets of PBMs (Pharmacy Benefit Managers). Most of them, by the way, are owned by insurance companies. Here is a snippet from her editorial:

Buried on page 55 of the bipartisan gun bill Congress passed this week: A provision to further delay the implementation of a rule to lower prescription drug prices. It’s another demonstration of the lobbying power of drug supply middlemen known as pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and why it’s so hard to achieve real reform to lower medication costs. No wonder Americans hold Congress in such low regard. 

Please read the rest of the article and see how DPC docs continue to make their voices heard. Great job, Dr. Rutherford. Her practice is located here.

101740cookie-checkA DPC Doc Takes on PBM Legislation
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By Douglas Farrago, MD

Douglas Farrago MD is board certified in the specialty of Family Practice. He is the inventor of a product called the Knee Saver which is currently in the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Knee Saver and its knock-offs are worn by many major league baseball catchers. He is also the inventor of the CryoHelmet used by athletes for head injuries as well as migraine sufferers. From 2001 – 2011, Dr. Farrago was the editor and creator of the Placebo Journal which ran for 10 full years. Described as the Mad Magazine for doctors, he and the Placebo Journal were featured in the Washington Post, US News and World Report, the AP, and the NY Times. Douglas Farrago, MD received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Virginia in 1987, his Masters of Education degree in the area of Exercise Science from the University of Houston in 1990, and his Medical Degree from the University of Texas at Houston in 1994. His residency training occurred way up north at the Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Maine. In his final year, he was elected Chief Resident by his peers. Dr. Farrago has practiced family medicine for twenty-three years, first in Auburn, Maine and now in Forest, Virginia. He founded Forest Direct Primary Care in 2014, which quickly filled in 18 months. Dr. Farrago still blogs every day on his website Authenticmedicine.com and lectures worldwide about the present crisis in our healthcare system and the effect it has on the doctor-patient relationship. Dr. Farrago’s has written three books on direct primary care: The Official Guide to Starting Your Own Direct Primary Care Practice, The Direct Primary Care Doctor’s Daily Motivational Journal and Slowing the Churn in Direct Primary Care (While Also Keeping Your Sanity) are all best sellers in this genre. He is a leading expert in direct primary care model and lectures medical students, residents, and doctors on how to start their own DPC practice. He retired from clinical medicine in October, 2020.

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