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(NaturalNews) Nearly every doctor in the United States accepts gifts of some sort from pharmaceutical companies, but in many cases there is no benefit to patients, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Researchers surveyed 1,662 U.S. doctors and found that 94 percent of them reported "some type of relationship with the pharmaceutical industry." Eighty-three percent of respondents reported receiving gifts of food at work, and 78 percent reported receiving free drug samples. More than 33 percent of doctors reported receiving monetary payments from drug companies in exchange for attending medical meetings, giving lectures or signing up patients to participate in drug tests.

The researchers also found that the number of meetings between doctors and pharmaceutical industry representatives had actually increased since the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America lobby group adopted its new code of conduct in 2002. Yet there seemed to be no apparent benefit to patients from many of these meetings.

The survey also revealed that the drug industry appears to selectively make gifts to more influential doctors. While family practitioners see the most patients, heart doctors were twice as likely to get direct payments from drug companies. Doctors who were involved in training others were more likely to receive gifts, while those who treated the poor were less likely. Female doctors were less likely to receive gifts than males.

"It appears pretty clear that industry forms tighter relationships with doctors who are really the thought leaders, the ones who are likely to affect the behavior of other doctors," said study co-author David Blumenthal of the Institute for Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital.

The researchers received responses to only about half of the surveys that they sent out, even though doctors were offered $20 for their participation.

Two other studies published recently in the journal "PLoS Medicine" found that the sales techniques used by drug companies do in fact influence which drugs doctors prescribe.

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