Doctors receiving perks from Drug Companies
Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 8:11 pm
In an earier post I mentioned that I disagreed with the common practice of doctors receiving perks from Drug Companies in exchange for pushing their product. In this case I was referring to Mirapex.
From the responses I got, I felt like I was being treated as some sort of conspiracy theorist.
That's not the case at all. This is something that I learned years ago when I was taking an Addictions Counselling course. I assumed that everyone knew that this was going on.
For any of you that don't know that this is common practice, here are some interesting articles for you to check out (thankfully the government is starting to step in and put an end to this sort of activity).
From ABC News …
“Further investigation into the $6 billion spent by drug companies for what they say is a way to educate doctors showed that tactics like lavish gifts and trips are surprisingly common.
“It’s embarrassing, it’s extravagant and it’s unethical,” said Dr. Arnold Relman, a Harvard Medical School professor and the former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine. “It makes the doctor feel beholden … it suborns the judgment of the doctor.”
Few doctors were willing to talk publicly about their relationships with pharmaceutical companies, but one upstate New York doctor was willing to come forward.
“It’s very tempting and they just keep anteing it up. And it’s getting harder to say no,” said Dr. Rudy Mueller. “I feel in some ways it’s kind of like bribery.”
Disgusted by how the free gifts and trips add to the high price of medicine, and moved by the plight of patients forced to skip needed medication, Mueller agreed to provide Primetime with a rare glimpse of the astounding number of drug company freebies he was offered by various drug companies in a four-month period.
He was presented with an estimated $10,000 worth, including an all-expenses-paid trip to a resort in Florida, dinner cruises, hockey game tickets, a ski trip for the family, Omaha steaks, a day at a spa and free computer equipment. “
Brian Ross and David W. Scott, “Do Drug Company Perks Influence Doctors? How Pharmaceutical Companies Use Enticement to ‘Educate’ Physicians” ABC News abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=132141&page=1
From the New York Times …
“In a scolding report, the nation’s most influential medical advisory group said doctors should stop taking much of the money, gifts and free drug samples they routinely accept from drug and device companies.
Drug companies spend billions of dollars wooing doctors — more than they spend on research or consumer advertising. Much of this money is spent on giving doctors free drug samples, free food, free medical refresher courses and payments for marketing lectures. The institute’s report recommends that nearly all of these efforts end.
The largest drug makers agreed last year to stop giving doctors pens, pads and other gifts of small value, but company executives have defended other marketing tactics as valuable to both doctors and patients. Medical device and biotechnology companies have yet to swear off free trips or even pens.”
Gardiner Harris, “Institute of Medicine Calls for Doctors to Stop Taking Gifts From Drug Makers” The New York Times (April 28, 2009) www.nytimes.com/2009/04/29/health/policy/29drug.html
From “The Day” …
“The bill, SB-270, requires drug and medical device companies to adopt a marketing code of compliance that, among other things, would limit gifts, meals and continuing-education benefits to physicians as well as force companies to publicize interactions with health care providers.
“This bill can really hinder or change the relationship between doctors and our field representatives,” said Pfizer spokeswoman Liz Power in a phone interview. These salespeople provide “critical information about prescription medicines” to busy doctors, she added.”
Lee Howard, “Pharma Opposes Bill to Limit Perks for Doctors” The Day, New London, CT. (April 22, 2010) www.theday.com/article/20100422/BIZ02/304229351/1044
They’ve actually done studies on how these perks affect doctor’s decisions.
From “The International Journal of Health Services” …
“Evidence suggests that physicians’ interactions with pharmaceutical companies do affect physician behavior. In 2000, Wazana’s analysis of 16 studies found convincing evidence that interaction with drug companies led to preference for prescribing a given company’s medication, inability to identify false claims about a medication, non rational prescribing behavior, increase in prescribing rates, and prescribing fewer generic equivalents, even when more expensive medications demonstrated no advantage. “
Sarah Roberts and James Jastifer, “Patients’ Awareness of and Attitudes Toward Gifts from Pharmaceutical Companies to Physicians.” International Journal of Health Services (2009) www.britannica.com/bps/additionalconten ... Physicians
I just thought some of you RLSers that are taking Requip, Sefrol, Mirapex etc. might like to be aware of just how common this practice is.
David
www.RLcure.com
From the responses I got, I felt like I was being treated as some sort of conspiracy theorist.
That's not the case at all. This is something that I learned years ago when I was taking an Addictions Counselling course. I assumed that everyone knew that this was going on.
For any of you that don't know that this is common practice, here are some interesting articles for you to check out (thankfully the government is starting to step in and put an end to this sort of activity).
From ABC News …
“Further investigation into the $6 billion spent by drug companies for what they say is a way to educate doctors showed that tactics like lavish gifts and trips are surprisingly common.
“It’s embarrassing, it’s extravagant and it’s unethical,” said Dr. Arnold Relman, a Harvard Medical School professor and the former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine. “It makes the doctor feel beholden … it suborns the judgment of the doctor.”
Few doctors were willing to talk publicly about their relationships with pharmaceutical companies, but one upstate New York doctor was willing to come forward.
“It’s very tempting and they just keep anteing it up. And it’s getting harder to say no,” said Dr. Rudy Mueller. “I feel in some ways it’s kind of like bribery.”
Disgusted by how the free gifts and trips add to the high price of medicine, and moved by the plight of patients forced to skip needed medication, Mueller agreed to provide Primetime with a rare glimpse of the astounding number of drug company freebies he was offered by various drug companies in a four-month period.
He was presented with an estimated $10,000 worth, including an all-expenses-paid trip to a resort in Florida, dinner cruises, hockey game tickets, a ski trip for the family, Omaha steaks, a day at a spa and free computer equipment. “
Brian Ross and David W. Scott, “Do Drug Company Perks Influence Doctors? How Pharmaceutical Companies Use Enticement to ‘Educate’ Physicians” ABC News abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=132141&page=1
From the New York Times …
“In a scolding report, the nation’s most influential medical advisory group said doctors should stop taking much of the money, gifts and free drug samples they routinely accept from drug and device companies.
Drug companies spend billions of dollars wooing doctors — more than they spend on research or consumer advertising. Much of this money is spent on giving doctors free drug samples, free food, free medical refresher courses and payments for marketing lectures. The institute’s report recommends that nearly all of these efforts end.
The largest drug makers agreed last year to stop giving doctors pens, pads and other gifts of small value, but company executives have defended other marketing tactics as valuable to both doctors and patients. Medical device and biotechnology companies have yet to swear off free trips or even pens.”
Gardiner Harris, “Institute of Medicine Calls for Doctors to Stop Taking Gifts From Drug Makers” The New York Times (April 28, 2009) www.nytimes.com/2009/04/29/health/policy/29drug.html
From “The Day” …
“The bill, SB-270, requires drug and medical device companies to adopt a marketing code of compliance that, among other things, would limit gifts, meals and continuing-education benefits to physicians as well as force companies to publicize interactions with health care providers.
“This bill can really hinder or change the relationship between doctors and our field representatives,” said Pfizer spokeswoman Liz Power in a phone interview. These salespeople provide “critical information about prescription medicines” to busy doctors, she added.”
Lee Howard, “Pharma Opposes Bill to Limit Perks for Doctors” The Day, New London, CT. (April 22, 2010) www.theday.com/article/20100422/BIZ02/304229351/1044
They’ve actually done studies on how these perks affect doctor’s decisions.
From “The International Journal of Health Services” …
“Evidence suggests that physicians’ interactions with pharmaceutical companies do affect physician behavior. In 2000, Wazana’s analysis of 16 studies found convincing evidence that interaction with drug companies led to preference for prescribing a given company’s medication, inability to identify false claims about a medication, non rational prescribing behavior, increase in prescribing rates, and prescribing fewer generic equivalents, even when more expensive medications demonstrated no advantage. “
Sarah Roberts and James Jastifer, “Patients’ Awareness of and Attitudes Toward Gifts from Pharmaceutical Companies to Physicians.” International Journal of Health Services (2009) www.britannica.com/bps/additionalconten ... Physicians
I just thought some of you RLSers that are taking Requip, Sefrol, Mirapex etc. might like to be aware of just how common this practice is.
David
www.RLcure.com