I cannot afford my medication, so I buy it from a Canadian pharmacy via mail order. I CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT MY MEDICINE. PLEASE STOP CONGRESS FROM TAKING AWAY MY RIGHT TO PURCHASE OVER THE INTERNET. Joanne

Physician speaks out about doctors & drug reps

posted Tue, 19 Jul 2011

Pharmaceutical companies spend more on marketing than they do on research and development. The drug industry spends thousands of dollars per physician each year carefully targeting their pitches, directly marketing to doctors and trying to influence what is prescribed.

They go to this trouble because it is extremely profitable for them. Research has shown that if pharmaceutical companies win just one more prescription per week from each prescriber, they gain $52 million in sales each year. Meanwhile, drug costs for consumers continue to rise.
 
We have blogged in the past about this problematic relationship between doctors and drug companies. Dr. Manoj Jain recently wrote a thoughtful column about his personal experience with drug company representatives. He points out that there are clearly some benefits to these relationships. They provide doctors with useful information on the latest drugs available. Also, in these tough economic times, doctors are able to get free samples for their low income patients.

For many doctors, accepting small gifts from drug companies is easy to justify. But Dr. Jain points out that it can quickly turn into a slippery slope. We thought our readers might appreciate his insider perspective on the issue. In the end, we're glad to know that there are doctors who will stick to their guns and put patient care first.
 
Big pharma and patient care: Doctors' interaction with drug reps is slippery slope, Memphis physician says, The Commercial Appeal

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