The free meals, trinkets and other goodies now lavished on doctors by the prescription drug industry will soon be a matter of public record for each doctor in the United States, under a provision of the new health care reform law. A searchable database goes into effect in 2013 that will let anyone plug in….
Continue ReadingConflicts of Interest
Big Profits in Cutting Corners on Quality for Owners of Long-Term Care Hospitals
The handsome silver-haired doctor in the long white coat, standing at the nurse’s station in a photograph accompanying a New York Times story, is the national medical director for a chain of for-profit long-term care hospitals. But he puts in barely ten hours a week for Select Medical Corporation, which has no physicians in its….
Continue ReadingA Doctor Chooses Paid Speeches for Drug Makers Over Academic Prestige
New ethics rules that bar Harvard doctors from giving speeches paid by drug manufacturers have prompted one doctor to give up his prestigious academic position in favor of keeping the income from the speeches. The physician is Dr. Lawrence M. DuBuske, an allergy and asthma specialist who is quitting his positions at Boston’s Brigham and….
Continue ReadingMore on Those Glossy Ads for Cancer Treatment
Several thought-provoking letters appear in the New York Times responding to the recent piece about the cancer treatment industry’s advertisements. One letter was from Dr. James Rickert, of Bloomington, Ind., president of the Society for Patient Centered Orthopedics: To the Editor: As a cancer survivor who has faced recurrent bouts of disease, I agree that….
Continue ReadingCancer Treatment Industry Markets Hope to Desperate Patients:
The ads are striking: Handsome, smiling people, very much alive, victors over cancer — thanks to their choice of a prestigious cancer center for their treatment. But are they true? The cancer centers — with brand names like Sloan-Kettering and Massachusetts General — cannot prove that the patients are alive because of something unique about….
Continue ReadingA Small Step Forward in Curbing Drug Industry Influence on Doctor Education
Most doctors have to take regular continuing education courses to maintain their medical licenses. But what if the courses have a hidden agenda — promoting the drugs of a sponsoring manufacturer? That hidden influence has occurred far too often for the comfort of patient safety advocates, who want prescribing doctors to receive fair, balanced and….
Continue Reading“Ghostbusters” Are Weeding Out Fake Authors at Medical Journals
A few brave medical journal editors are cracking down on the common practice of drug companies ghost-writing articles for authors who are willing to lend their names to drug industry propaganda. But at other journals, editors seem to have a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. For patients, it is vital that the truth come out…..
Continue ReadingDoes My Doctor Have a Conflict of Interest? Why You Should Care
Whether or not a patient should get an expensive imaging scan or some other elaborate and expensive test is not always clearcut. But what should be clearcut is that doctors should not have a thumb on the scale when they’re balancing harms versus benefits. The balancing ought to be focused entirely on what’s in the….
Continue ReadingThe Medical Industry’s Own “Steroids in Baseball” Scandal
Another reason for careful patients to be skeptical about overly hyped prescription drugs came this week with news about the extent to which articles in important medical journals are “ghost-written” by drug manufacturers. According to an article in the New York Times by Natasha Singer, newly released papers from lawsuits involving Wyeth’s hormone replacement drugs….
Continue ReadingToo Much Medical Care Is Dangerous and Expensive
A New Yorker article by Dr. Atul Gawande, a surgeon, focused on why McAllen, Texas has higher medical costs than just about anywhere in the country. Dr. Gawande concluded that much of the problem could be traced to the very aggressive, intervention-oriented style of medicine practiced there — all stemming from the fee-for-service payment system….
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