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“I never had a policy; I have just tried to do my very best each and every day. “
—Abraham Lincoln
I’m very dubious about the recent push for formal disclosure of gifts from pharmaceutical companies to America’s physicians. Like most people, I trust doctors to be professionals—consistently doing the right thing.
Under proposed federal legislation, drug companies with $100 million+ in annual revenues would be required to file quarterly reports detailing all gifts of $25 or more to doctors. The info would then be posted publicly at the HHS web site. Right, that’s what medicine needs—more bureaucracy.
In their current form, the most common “gifts” are food and beverages for the doctors’ offices, free drug samples, and reimbursement for costs from professional meetings and CME. While I’m willing to concede that groups backing this plan are acting in good faith, I think it's unnecessary. There are bigger problems in medicine to address. Conscientious doctors can’t be bought for $25 (or for any price). I find that benchmark insulting to the medical profession.
A Harris Poll from last year found that more than 90% of Americans trust doctors to give them unbiased advice. Ranking well below doctors in the survey were stockbrokers, real estate agents, mechanics, lawyers and bankers (where's the gift-lists from those groups?). Another 2006 Harris Poll found that doctors are the nation’s most trusted profession—with 85% of Americans saying they tell the truth (teachers were second).
At the end of the day, I realize that pharmaceutical company marketers still must reach physicians—consistently educating and informing them about their products. That won’t change. Despite the transformations occurring in the healthcare system, doctors will remain the major patient gatekeeper, deciding which drugs and treatments are prescribed. I'm comfortable with that. And ongoing reports show that doctors aren’t going away—2007 saw a record increase in medical school enrollment.
I maintain that the vast majority of doctors always put the interests of their patients (and by extension their professional reputation) before any gift that get from pharma companies. I’d like to hear you thoughts, doctors.
94%—Percentage of US physicians who accept payments or gifts from the pharmaceutical industry.
(National Physicians Alliance, 2007)
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