This is how Manchester NHS is spending their money...

[ionian]

This might be uber cynical, verging on the conspiracy theory, but who is the pharmaceutical companies' biggest customer in this country? The NHS. The NHS have to buy from these companies - they have nowhere else to get drugs from, and have to meet prices that are quoted, no matter what we pay for prescriptions.

This means big pharma has quite the influence over NHS policy.

Hmmm, maybe it is a step too far into the world of JFK assassinations and alien abductions to think that they've sat down together and decided to do this, but still, the two have mutual interests and it's not surprising to see them speaking with one voice.

[Karma]

not a step to far at all ionian

[OneDay]

Dec 3, 2013 21:36:05 GMT Karma said:

not a step to far at all ionian

...especially when you read Des's link above and find out that their pension scheme money is invested in tobacco companies!

[djs]

Dec 3, 2013 21:35:04 GMT ionian said:

This means big pharma has quite the influence over NHS policy.

Indeed it does.

and every Doctor I know has all sorts of "items" in their houses with drug company names emblazoned on them

not to mention "VIP days out" "corporate hospitality" and many other sweeteners.

it is a massive merry-go-round.

If the NHS does all it can to stop uptake of e-cigs, plenty of people win. The government gets their taxes, the drug firms and the NHS walk off hand in hand into the sunset to make sweet mutual love.

There is no conspiracy theory at all. It's about greed, power and influence and...well...money.

Everyone is a cog in the machine, you, me everybody. E-cigs don't fit in the mechanism.

[philh]

Hi,
Thank god not every NHS trust is the same. Here in Swansea they seem very pro ecig. My own doctor has me down as a non smoker for the last 16 months. I saw an on call doctor about a month ago and the only reason she could come up with for me stopping vaping was the money but when I explained that I had already saved over£2000 she was stumped.
I have been in hospital twice recently and on both occasions no one had any objections to me vaping. I even vaped while they did a small operation to reinflate one of my lungs.
I have also been attending as a day patient for chemotherapy and they are quite happy to let me vape while having treatment. Drip going into one hand and my ecig in the other.
Phil