Healthy Skepticism Library item: 8027

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

Tattersall MH, Kerridge IH.
Doctors behaving badly?
Med J Aust 2006 Sep 18; 185:(6):299-300
http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/185_06_180906/tat10926_fm.html

Abstract:

There is no such thing as a free lunch. Pharmaceutical companies lavish meals, five-star travel, cash and gifts on doctors for one reason: to encourage them to prescribe their drugs. The standard retort from the medical profession is that doctors have sufficient clinical objectivity – and personal integrity – not to be so crudely swayed. Perhaps so.1

The interaction between doctors and the pharmaceutical industry was recently catapulted into the public domain by a piece of investigative journalism published in The Australian, detailing the wining and dining of doctors by the pharmaceutical giant, Roche, at an educational meeting in Sydney.2 What surprised many observers was not the revelations regarding the extent of hospitality provided by pharmaceutical companies to doctors, but the response of the Australian Medical Association (AMA). The AMA’s public stance was that pharmaceutical industry sponsorship of accommodation and restaurant meals is perfectly acceptable, that drug company sponsorship serves to “oil the wheels” of medical education, and that industry-sponsored events provide valuable opportunities for doctors “to critically question the companies’ products” and that “no patient harm comes from this practice”.2 A review of the literature, however, suggests that this is not true.3,4…

Keywords:
Publication Types: Editorial MeSH Terms: Australia Conflict of Interest Drug Industry/ethics* Ethics, Medical* Ethics, Pharmacy* Humans Persuasive Communication Physician's Practice Patterns/ethics* Physician's Role Physicians/ethics