Doctors and drug firms (Opinion)

[Guest guest]

(You suppose this connection has anything to do with why so many of us find

it difficult, if not downright impossible to find someone to treat us for

mycotoxin poisoning? If there was an expensive " drug " (other than

antifungals) that they were pushing, there would be thousands of docs lined

up to test and prescribe for us.)

http://www.projo.com/report/html/opinion/07059641.htm

2.16.2002 00:12

Doctors and drug firms

The Enron scandal has shown what can happen when conflicts of interest go

unchecked in the business world. But such conflicts pervade the world of

medicine as well. According to a study just published in the Journal of the

American Medical Association, an overwhelming majority of doctors who write

treatment guidelines for diseases have ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

And very often, those companies' drugs find their way into the guidelines as

recommended treatment.

To those in the medical profession, none of this is news. The potential for

financial conflict is widely recognized, and the source of much discussion.

But one of the troubling aspects of the new study is its finding that ties

between doctors and drug makers are rarely disclosed. That means that the

public -- not to mention peer physicians -- is generally left in the dark

when it comes to trying to fully appraise recommended treatments.

Drug companies often pay doctors for research, speaking and consulting. And

many doctors frequently take junkets to fancy resorts, all bought and paid

for by the drug companies. Some of these junkets last a weekend, many much

longer. A lot of greens fees are being paid for by drug makers. If this

involved politicians, it would be called bribery.

The cozy financial relationship between physicians and the drug makers is

not easily abolished. But disclosure would do much to keep things above

board, and to help guarantee the integrity of scientific research.

According to a recent New York Times report, several prominent doctors and

researchers have signed a letter urging scientific journals to adopt

stricter disclosure rules. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers

Association, which represents the industry, has no problem with the idea.

Scientific publications can only gain by putting it to use.

It would also be nice if physicians would tell patients what the drug

companies whose products the physicians are enthusiastically recommending

had done for the doctors lately, but we dream on.