Saturday, April 28, 2007

Have you ever wondered why

Your doctor prescribes a particular drug? The WaPo has a revealing look at the relationship between the pharmaceutical companies and the members of the medical profession. It is not pretty.
One study published in the New England Journal of Medicine last week found that 94 percent of doctors have some type of relationship with the drug industry -- most commonly accepting free food or drug samples, which about 80 percent of physicians did. More than one-third of the 1,662 physicians who responded to a survey conducted from November 2003 to June 2004 reported being reimbursed by the drug industry for costs of going to professional meetings or continuing medical education, and 28 percent said they had been paid for consulting, giving lectures or signing up patients for clinical trials.
And there is more to it. The bottom line is that there is no free lunch, not even for doctors. All of this adds heavily to the cost of those drugs and you don't always get the best medicine for your condition. But the profits are worth it.

// posted by montag @ 11:12 PM
Comments:
If you any of you missed Bill Moyers' segment last night on the U.S. attorney purge and his interview of Josh Marshall you can watch it online here:

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/
04272007/watch2.html
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 11:46 PM
 

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