Prominent Physicians Call for Less Drug Company Influence; Is Your Doctor in the Back Pocket of Big Pharma?

A group of influential physicians and medical industry professionals has called for an end to nearly all drug industry funding of medical association functions and educational programs. The move is the latest in a string of similar efforts designed to eliminate or reduce the grip the U.S. pharmaceutical industry holds on physicians, calling into question whether their loyalties lie with patients or drug companies.

Members of the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American College of Physicians said allowing drug companies to pay for doctor’s continuing education courses, annual association meetings, and other functions can create conflicts of interest for physicians or at least the appearance of impropriety.

Instead, large medical groups should find other ways to pay for their events, through either higher dues for members, holding fewer events, or other sacrifices, the group said.

Kickbacks, Conflicts of Interest, and Free Pens

In the current medical industry landscape, disease treatment guidelines recommending certain drugs are written by doctors who own stock in those drugs’ makers. Medical conferences sponsored by drug companies are held where doctors are given free rounds of golf, tickets to Broadway shows, and everything from tote bags, pens and identification badges emblazoned with drug company logos.

Such mingling of the medical and drug industries should be stopped, according to a new proposal published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Among those contributing to the proposal were Dr. Catherine DeAngelis, editor in chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. James Scully, CEO of the American Psychiatric Association, and Dr. Gerald Thomson, former president of the American College of Physicians.

Some Drug Industry Funding is OK, Experts Say

But not all drug industry contributions to the medical professions are bad or rife with problems, the officials cautioned. Money paid for medical meeting exhibits where drug companies and medical device makers show off their new products are acceptable, since physicians clearly know that such presentations are marketing campaigns and not educational materials. Drug company advertising in medical journals also should be allowed to continue, the experts said.

Drug Industry Influence Should be Curtailed

We’ve all been there. You’re sitting in your doctor’s office reception area, waiting for your appointment, when in walks a well-dressed woman in a sleek, black professional-looking business suit carrying a bag with Pfizer, Bayer, or another big drug company printed prominently on the outside. While you and other patients sit and read through months-old magazines and wait your turn to see the doctor, the woman is warmly greeted and whisked past the receptionist, directly into the doctor’s office for an immediate meeting.

Later, your doctor hands you a free sample of a drug carrying the same brand name as you saw on the woman’s tote bag and you sign your check for the visit with a pen bearing the name of another drug company.

These are common examples of how much influence drug companies, through their legions of sales representatives, wield over doctors. And sadly, we the patients are left on the outside looking in, wondering if the drug our doctor recommends for us really is our best treatment option or just the latest offering from a drug company pushing its use.

The new proposal unveiled this week from the panel of medical industry professionals should be adopted industry-wide and expanded even further to eliminate all drug company funding of medical associations. Only then can we, the patients, be assured that their interests are being put first in making medical decisions.

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