Originally published February 23 2006
Medical panel proposes radical change to the relationship between doctors and Big Pharma
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Jordan J. Cohen, president of the Association of American Medical Colleges, offers his take on new policies recommended for avoiding conflicts of interest in medical studies.
Declaring that the pervasive influence of drug industry money is distorting doctors' treatment decisions and scientific findings, a prestigious panel of medical experts called on their colleagues yesterday to adopt far-reaching new conflict-of-interest policies.
In an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the group said that voluntary efforts to limit corporate inducements have failed, resulting in the overprescribing of some medications and the withholding of negative discoveries about others.
A physicians group called for new steps to sever ties between manufacturers and practitioners at academic medical centers.
� Ban gifts to physicians from drug and device makers, including meals and payment for travel and continuing education.
"My mother told me never to accept gifts from strangers.
The panel -- which includes Cohen, officials from several medical schools and members of the Institute on Medicine as a Profession -- urged the nation's 400 teaching hospitals to impose stringent measures, including a ban on accepting gifts, meals and drug samples and tight restrictions on outside income.
A series of articles published today in the journal Academic Medicine reach similar conclusions, noting that strict, standardized policies are needed to ensure patients receive unbiased, evidence-based treatments.
Spokesmen for the pharmaceutical industry said the extra steps are unnecessary and could deprive physicians of valuable information.
From their first rounds as residents, doctors travel in a world increasingly dominated by drug company salespeople proffering meals, office supplies, entertainment and even cash to speak at conferences or sit on advisory boards.
The relationships can prompt doctors to order unnecessary tests, prescribe more expensive medicines or advocate adding certain medications to a hospital's list of preferred drugs, he said.
In a second article, Blumenthal found that conflicts of interest have contributed to growing secrecy in research, with some scientists intentionally omitting negative findings about a drug or device.
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