-Caveat Lector- .............................................................. >From the New Paradigms Project [Not Necessarily Endorsed] Note: We store 100's of related "New Paradigms Posts" at: http://www.msen.com/~lloyd/oldprojects/recentmail.html From: "Alex Constantine" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Kris" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: "Lloyd" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Lynn" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: FW: "Drug-company influence on medical education in USA"(and UK??) Date: Wednesday, September 13, 2000 6:17 PM ---------- From: Betty Martini <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2000 12:15:56 -0400 To: ilena rose <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Fwd: B-GE:"Drug-company influence on medical education in USA"(and UK??) >Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2000 15:25:41 EDT >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] >X-Processed-By: HSKT 1.0 by Joshua Baer >Subject: B-GE:"Drug-company influence on medical education in USA" (and UK??) > >The Lancet >Vol 356, No. 9232, p. 781 >Sept. 2, 2000 >Editorial > >"Drug-company influence on medical education in USA" > >It begins on the first day of medical school and lasts through to retirement, >and it is the only reliable "cradle to grave" benefit that doctors can truly >count on any more. Even in this era of medical-ledger watching world wide, >there is little evidence to expect it will ever end. In fact, it may even be >growing. It starts slowly and insidiously, like an addiction, and can end up >influencing the very nature of medical decision-making and practice. It first >appears harmless enough: a textbook here, a penlight there, and progresses to >stethoscopes and black bags, until eventually come nights "on the town" at >academic conventions and all-expenses paid "educational symposia" in lovely >locales. > >Attempts to influence the judgment of doctors by commercial interests serving >the medical-industrial complex are nothing if not thorough. Unfortunately, >they seem to work. Studies have shown that prescribing patterns are >influenced by advertising and other marketing activities. If this were not >the case, why would industry spend hundreds of millions of dollars on >promotion? Advertising sustains industry, and no industry, not even the >medical one, can avoid its reach. So it is not the fact of marketing that is >in question here. It is the form in which it comes. Surely, no one would >mistake a pen with a corporate logo as anything but promotion. Nor would >anyone suggest that a stuffed animal with a brand-named drug stitched to its >fur is of great medical value. But when the line between medical education >and advertising or marketing is blurred, there is a problem. > >A recent study completed by the US watchdog Public Citizen documents the >relation between medical education activities, the pharmaceutical industry, >and medical education services suppliers (MESS), which are private businesses >that provide medical education. The study stems from survey data published in >the December, 1999, issue of Medical Marketing & Media, an industry >periodical. MM&M surveyed 123 MESS about their 1998 and 1999 operations. 80 >returned questionnaires. In summary, the data suggest that supplying medical >education can, in this form, be a very lucrative exercise, whose most >consistent client is the pharmaceutical industry. > >Of the 43 companies that answered questions on finances, total revenue >amounted to $643 million in 1999 alone, a 19% increase from 1998. >Extrapolating this to the entire industry, Public Citizen predicts that the >MESS industry is worth at least $1 billion annually. An astounding $115 >million was billed by MESS to their clients on grand rounds alone; $114 >million on symposia, $64 million on advisory boards, and another $60 million >on publications. 68% (85%) of MESSs provided data on their client mix. On >average 76% of respondents' clients were drug manufacturers. 26% of the MESS >reported that at least 90% of their clients were pharmaceutical companies. > >It cannot be said that the quality of any of these educational activities was >compromised by the ultimate patronage of the pharmaceutical industry. Indeed, >43% of the 80 MESS respondents reported being accredited by the Accreditation >Council of Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) and an additional 5% said >their accreditation was pending. Of course, that also means that over half of >the MESS surveyed do not have ACCME accreditation. While one cannot be >certain that lack of accreditation necessarily connotes poor educational >quality, it does at least suggest the possibility that industry may be able >in these situations to exert even greater influence over what material is >presented and what is left out. > >What is of most concern here is the fact that so much continuing medical >education comes through the filter of industry. To ensure the integrity, and >the appearance of integrity, of the process of learning in medicine, >physicians should do more to pay for CME themselves, just as many other >professionals have to do. > >============= > >---- >For instructions on joining, leaving, or otherwise using the Ban-GEF list, >send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with HELP in the SUBJECT line. > >Search the archives (since '97) at http://www.txinfinet.com/ban-gef/, or >go to a recent day's digest at >http://www.txinfinet.com/ban-gef/00/. 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