Unicum!
Yesterday I attended the first meeting of the board of directors of the first private hospital company in Hungary. Exciting! Of course it was in Hungarian, so I didn't understand everything, but I got some of the jist of what was being said. They approved some of the things I had discussed with Dr Varga, including some of the criteria for the peer review committee. One of the most debated topics was whether to include elected members on the board of directors which was my suggestion. I'm not sure if they decided yes, no, or to postpone this decision, but many of them were worried that this will make their lives much harder. I hope if they choose to try it they will find that sometimes it makes things easier, and that it makes the base of information and perspectives they use for decision making broader.
Other things discussed at the meeting were the formulary, which was postponed pending expected national legislation, and the governing rules for the board of directors which were approved. They also discussed drug reps who currently have completely unrestricted access to the doctors, which some people would like to regulate. The situation with drug reps here seems quite similar to the situation in the US 5-10 years ago. But at least there is some recognition that this may not be ideal. Along with me and Dr. Varga, attendees included 2 other consultants, the quality control officer for the company, the CEO, the pharmacy consultant/director, and the directors of the 2 hospitals which will be or are run by the company.
Today Michele and I went to statue park where all the old Soviet statues were sent to die. There should be some funny pictures to post from that trip later tonight or this week. After that we went to the Zwack Unicum Museum. (Unicum is a famous Hungarian Liquor.) We should have eaten lunch first, but when we emerged from the museum at 1:30 after 3 tasting shots at least we were happy. We rode the tram to the Nagy Palacsinta house - big crepe house - which is open 24 hrs a day, and had a late lunch. For 5 dollars I had one savory crepe which was Milanese which means spaghetti with red sauce, cheese, and mushrooms, and 3 turos (desert) crepes which are my favorite, plus 0.2 litres of "coke light." I like that value menu!
After lunch we headed back to the hotel to drop of the several kilos of alcohol we bought at the Unicum museum, and then headed to Mammut (the mall) for some shopping and internet, so here we are. I'm going to need another massage just from carrying my purchases home in my backpack!
Yesterday I didn't do much other than attend the meeting. I was tired from the busy weekend, so when I got home I just read and went to bed early.
I asked my host Dr. Nagy why there is not more ongoing protest about the corrupt politicians in power here. Earlier, he and Agi had said that people here are not upset that the party lied, because they expect politicians to lie, or because the did things which were not good for the citizens, because they expect this from time to time too, but because they said that they lied and made bad decisions. But anyway, he says that given the very sad and unlucky history or fate of protesters in Hungarian history, people are not particularly inspired to speak up. Even the first king, St. Steven, was mean to his dissenters - he cut them into 4 pieces and sent the parts out to the 4 areas of the country to show what happened to people who disagreed with them. And it is true that most of the Hungarian revolutions or times when people have tried to stand up to those in power and change injustice have ended very badly for the protesters, so I suppose this is understandable.
Other things discussed at the meeting were the formulary, which was postponed pending expected national legislation, and the governing rules for the board of directors which were approved. They also discussed drug reps who currently have completely unrestricted access to the doctors, which some people would like to regulate. The situation with drug reps here seems quite similar to the situation in the US 5-10 years ago. But at least there is some recognition that this may not be ideal. Along with me and Dr. Varga, attendees included 2 other consultants, the quality control officer for the company, the CEO, the pharmacy consultant/director, and the directors of the 2 hospitals which will be or are run by the company.
Today Michele and I went to statue park where all the old Soviet statues were sent to die. There should be some funny pictures to post from that trip later tonight or this week. After that we went to the Zwack Unicum Museum. (Unicum is a famous Hungarian Liquor.) We should have eaten lunch first, but when we emerged from the museum at 1:30 after 3 tasting shots at least we were happy. We rode the tram to the Nagy Palacsinta house - big crepe house - which is open 24 hrs a day, and had a late lunch. For 5 dollars I had one savory crepe which was Milanese which means spaghetti with red sauce, cheese, and mushrooms, and 3 turos (desert) crepes which are my favorite, plus 0.2 litres of "coke light." I like that value menu!
After lunch we headed back to the hotel to drop of the several kilos of alcohol we bought at the Unicum museum, and then headed to Mammut (the mall) for some shopping and internet, so here we are. I'm going to need another massage just from carrying my purchases home in my backpack!
Yesterday I didn't do much other than attend the meeting. I was tired from the busy weekend, so when I got home I just read and went to bed early.
I asked my host Dr. Nagy why there is not more ongoing protest about the corrupt politicians in power here. Earlier, he and Agi had said that people here are not upset that the party lied, because they expect politicians to lie, or because the did things which were not good for the citizens, because they expect this from time to time too, but because they said that they lied and made bad decisions. But anyway, he says that given the very sad and unlucky history or fate of protesters in Hungarian history, people are not particularly inspired to speak up. Even the first king, St. Steven, was mean to his dissenters - he cut them into 4 pieces and sent the parts out to the 4 areas of the country to show what happened to people who disagreed with them. And it is true that most of the Hungarian revolutions or times when people have tried to stand up to those in power and change injustice have ended very badly for the protesters, so I suppose this is understandable.
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