Lee Harps

Until now, I’ve always been a bit loathe to take up serious issues in this forum, having limited my entries to more gentle, mundane things like gardening, photo walks around town, workshop projects and the like.

As many of you know, I have spent my medical career as a nurse. One of the “perks” of my employment is that my bag lunch frequently spends noontime remaining in the staff refridgerator as I find the lunch room arrayed with food, commonly referred to as a “drug lunch”. An interesting sequence of events occurred yesterday: As my turkey sandwich languished in the ‘fridge, I found myself partaking of a very nice chicken breast entree, eggplant parmesan, a pasta dish, nice salad and soft drinks of choice, all being offered by a very pleasant, well dressed gentleman in a dark suit, always referred to as a “drug rep.”, which he was. An array of delicious soft cookies awaited for dessert. I found the paper plates, the plastic utensils and napkins, and partook heartily (I have a GREAT appetite).

As some of you may also know, I am an avid movie watcher and utilize my Netflix membership heartily as well. When I returned home from work, in the day’s mail was my next Netflix DVD and, as chance would have it, the movie within was the 2005 film, “Side Effects”.

“Side Effects” is a fictional film that was written and produced by Kathleen Slatterly-Moschkau last year. It is based upon the reflections of her 10-year career as a pharmaceutical drug rep. The drug rep. in the “Side Effects” is played by the lovely Katherine Heigl of “Gray’s Anatomy” (a sitcom I’ve not had the priviledge of seeing).

Until I managed to find time to “check it out”, it was already nearly bedtime, but I thought I would see what the film was all about. End result: I couldn’t turn it off and ended up getting to bed well past midnight!

I have been an admittedly HAPPY recipient of hundreds of “drug lunches” over the years, I’ve received scores of trinkets, all slathered with drug names, and I’ve only recently cut away the very worn leather fob on my key ring on which I could no longer read the name of the drug “responsible” for my having had it in the first place. (I must sadly admit that I cannot even tell you which pharmaceutical company or which particular drug was being promoted at yesterday’s luncheon, even though I had a nice one-on-one chat with the rep about things other than the drugs he was pushing — BAD ME! I know neither his name nor his product NOR his company’s name! Oops!)

“Side Effects” is, as admitted by the producer, a low-budget film with limited “glitz”, but while probably not up for any awards, I found it to be well worth the watch. The acting, for the most part, is believable, but the story line would probably not stand up to most Hollywood standards. On the surface, it is really a “chick flick” with a smattering of subtle sex and cleavage – it has an “R” rating – (you girls will love the role of Zac, Katherine’s counterpart), but it was the message that I found to be most interesting, since I’ve been at least peripherally exposed to the recipient “hospital” side of this scene for my entire career.

I am not about to go into the details of the film itself, I am not going to comment on the ethics of the way pharmaceutical companies operate, I am not going to say the drug companies are wrong in trying to turn a buck for the products they come up with ; after all, were it not for the drug companies, our pharmacies would still be stocked with herbs and leaves and preparations of dried, obscure animal parts! Research costs money. Drugs are the basis of my livelihood. I, myself, take medications daily and expect them to be available to me. I will leave the subject of the film speak for itself and recommend highly that you plan to see it.

The dilemma for me is: When I encounter a “drug lunch” next week, should I walk by it and take my sandwich from the ‘fridge and eat it instead, there in the presence of the others? Or should I say the problem is too rampant and that, having had a hard morning, I deserve a nice tasty lunch and my single plate of food (probably with “seconds”, of course) will have virtually no effect on my neighbor’s prescription cost at the local CVS Pharmacy? What would you do?

One more comment: I have watched this film twice and I would recommend you do the same. The first time, watch it simply as an entertaining film, so you understand the story line. THEN, go to the menu and under the “extras” menu turn on the “medical commentary” and watch it again. With the commentary on, the author gives a running, overdubbed, commentary on the things depicted in the film as the entire film replays, based upon her personal experience. I think you will find it entertaining, revealing and, as it did for me, most provocative.

I would love to hear your comments!

This entry was posted on Friday, September 8th, 2006 at 11:06 am and is filed under Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.