>>All those ads in MD mags for drugs are there to enrich the mag publisher???
>>Those pill peddlers who get to see MD's while I wait are there because big pharma wants to keep them out of trouble?
>>Those commercial for pills that tell me to see my MD are all wrong?

Advertising is ubiquitous and seems disconnected from price hikes across an artificial border. Sheesh, there are drug reps and advertising even in jurisdictions whose governments prevent big Pharma gouging the population.

>>One of the hazards of living in a retirement community is that social conversations frequently revolve around aches and pains. One of the most frequent complaints I hear is that MD's are constantly pushing unwanted and unneeded meds.
>>I rarely visit one without turning down a couple.

I cannot comment on your retirement community anecdote, but I can observe that if US physicians tick every box on the order form and document offering every available sop, it makes it harder to blame/sue them when things go awry.

>>John. The system is failing because one of the key lines of defense has collapsed.

If you're blaming physicians for out of control costs in the USA: is that a philosophical position or is there empirical evidence? My own anecdote is that I know lots of US physicians who emigrated to Socialist systems or aspire to do so. When I trained, always it was the opposite direction. The other exodus is into salaried positions that insulate physicians from the whole administrative malarkey. Those aren't the actions of somebody who benefits from/enjoys the status quo.