The degree to which U.S. physicians are on the take from the drug industry decreased between 2004 and 2009, according to the repeat version of a major national survey.
Dr. Eric G. Campbell and colleagues were responsible for the survey published in 2007, that used 2004 data to show that 94% of American docs had some sorts of financial ties with the drug industry. Repeating the survey in 2009 (subscription needed to access), they found this had dropped to 84%.
There were similar drops in just about every category of "gift": drug samples fell from 78% to 63.8%; food and beverages from 83% to 70.6%; speakers bureau payments, 16% to 8.6%; consulting payments, 18% to 6.7%. In one area, the new PhRMA code of conduct may actually have nearly omitted one egregious sort of payola--tickets to cultural or sporting events fell from 7% to 1.3%.
The investigators noted specialty-specific differences in which of these categories fell the most. Overall, cardiologists remained most "on the take" of any specialty. The data also showed that physicians reporting financial ties to Pharma were less likely than physicians with no tie to report that they prescribed generic drugs instead of equivalent brand-name drugs.
The biggest weakness in this study, as the authors gamely noted, is that it's strictly self-report. Therefore the falling figures may reflect not actual behavior, but rather the fact that it's now less socially acceptable to admit taking bribes.
In sum, we have seen (and have reported in HOOKED and on this blog) a number of events occurring between 2004 and 2009 that tended in the direction of urging physicians to take a harder look at financial ties to the drug indutry and to take actions to limit those entanglements. The data would provide some suggestion that maybe a few docs are listening--and also that we have a long way yet to go.
Campbell EG, Gruen RL, Mountford J, et al. A national survey of physician-industry relationships. New England Journal of Medicine 356:1742-50, 2007.
Campbell EG, Rao SR, DesRoches, CM, et al. Physician professionalism and changes in physician-industry relationships from 2004 to 2009. Archives of Internal Medicine 170:1820-26, Nov. 8, 2010.
Showing posts with label gifts; drug reps; marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gifts; drug reps; marketing. Show all posts
Friday, November 12, 2010
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Fantastic Poem: "Drug Company Dinner"
I recently had the pleasure to present a grand rounds for Summa Health System in Akron, where my host was Dr. Joe Zarconi, who rounded out the panel discussion on Pharma issues by reading the poem below. The poem, as the saying goes, was worth the price of admission. As the poem is available on line (http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/display/article/10168/52371?pageNumber=1), I trust I won't get hauled off by the copyright police if I reprint it here:
Richard Berlin
Drug Company Dinner
Psychiatric Times May 2005 Vol. XXII Issue 6
I dressed in a suit and cashmere coat,
a young man parked my car.
Red-dressed starlets flashed cleavage
and offered me black Beluga caviar
on buckwheat blinis. They sat me at a table
laid out with silver on white linen cloth,
each setting trimmed with an orchid
in a royal blue vase. And I might have heard
someone speak about doses and side effects
before the waiters served sea urchin eggs
arranged on white porcelain shells, circled
with fresh basil and warm tomato puree.
They carried two pound lobsters, rack of lamb,
poured wine into a glass that never emptied,
arranged an oak leaf and beet salad
into a still-life painting, fetched a cheese course
from the farms of France, and finished with chocolate
soufflé, frozen glasses of grappa, and a tray
topped with towers of Belgian truffles.
And a starlet held open my cashmere coat,
the young man returned my warmed-up car,
and I walked outside and breathed the Berkshires
in March, the smells of melted snow and sap
flowing in the pines, and I drove the slick surface
that twists and turns up Lenox Mountain, wondering,
really wondering, how much this night had cost me.
Dr. Berlin is associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Dr. Berlin's book How JFK Killed My Father won the 2002 Pearl Poetry Prize and is now in its 2nd printing, published by Pearl Editions.
(Note: Not that I pretend to be a literary critic, but I can see why this dude wins poetry prizes... catch the imagery of the road with its "slick surface that twists and turns...")
Richard Berlin
Drug Company Dinner
Psychiatric Times May 2005 Vol. XXII Issue 6
I dressed in a suit and cashmere coat,
a young man parked my car.
Red-dressed starlets flashed cleavage
and offered me black Beluga caviar
on buckwheat blinis. They sat me at a table
laid out with silver on white linen cloth,
each setting trimmed with an orchid
in a royal blue vase. And I might have heard
someone speak about doses and side effects
before the waiters served sea urchin eggs
arranged on white porcelain shells, circled
with fresh basil and warm tomato puree.
They carried two pound lobsters, rack of lamb,
poured wine into a glass that never emptied,
arranged an oak leaf and beet salad
into a still-life painting, fetched a cheese course
from the farms of France, and finished with chocolate
soufflé, frozen glasses of grappa, and a tray
topped with towers of Belgian truffles.
And a starlet held open my cashmere coat,
the young man returned my warmed-up car,
and I walked outside and breathed the Berkshires
in March, the smells of melted snow and sap
flowing in the pines, and I drove the slick surface
that twists and turns up Lenox Mountain, wondering,
really wondering, how much this night had cost me.
Dr. Berlin is associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Dr. Berlin's book How JFK Killed My Father won the 2002 Pearl Poetry Prize and is now in its 2nd printing, published by Pearl Editions.
(Note: Not that I pretend to be a literary critic, but I can see why this dude wins poetry prizes... catch the imagery of the road with its "slick surface that twists and turns...")
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