>>>In my judgement,it starts with the prescriber. If that MD is honest, the insurers, pill-peddlers, etc can't get started.
>They clearly have.
>
>The prescriber has no control over big pharma profits in the US. Get real. All the prescriber can say is that you have blood pressure and that drug x is most appropriate for you.

My son-in-law had serious problems with this. The doctor prescribed something new fancy expensive and actually not so good. He suffered from side effects etc. Then he had the misfortune to need another round while he was in Japan, and the local doctor prescribed the simple lasix which worked perfectly. Back home, he got assigned to a different doctor, with whom he shares some origins, and this doctor prescribed lasix, and everything was fine for a while. Next time, while he was waiting for some paperwork to be completed, he managed to sneak a peek at the monitor on the receptionist's desk, and there he read the instruction to "never assign this guy to that doctor" - i.e. don't let him see the doctor who gave him the cheap and efficient generic drug.