Healthy Skepticism Library item: 560

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: Journal Article

Guyatt G.
Determining an ethical stance: Pharmaceutical industry involvement and family medicine residency training
Can Fam Physician 1997 Nov 01; 43:1898-900

Keywords:
*editorial Canada source of information quality of information gift giving attitude toward promotion relationship between medical profession and industry relationship between physicians in training and industry quality of prescribing

Notes:

There are two key issues in educating residents that concern the pharmaceutical industry: whether, or under what circumstances, doctors and medical institutions should accept gifts from the industry; the extent to which primary care physicians should use industry information to guide their prescribing. The author outlines three arguments why physicians should not accept gifts from industry. The second issue, that of appropriate sources of information to guide prescribing, contrasts convenience with bias. Residents should be taught to use sources other than the industry.