you made your bed, now sleep in it

Fancy dinners and bonuses are sometimes too hard to resist. 

Tactics like these are frequently employed by drug companies to advertise their drugs and build relationships with doctors. According to Reuters, "doctors in the U.S. are still too cozy with drug companies."Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital conducted a survey and found that over 80% of drug companies have relationships with doctors. Drug companies have been known to provide free food, beverages, and compensation for attending meetings and continuing education. And like any give and take relationship, doctors generate favoritism toward the company and are more likely to prescribe their drug or medication. This influence has been frowned upon and members in Congress and the FDA are pushing to have all ties severed between drug companies and doctors.

Although statistics have shown that relationships have been decreasing, an unacceptable number still remain. Survey results showed that 70% of doctors accept food and beverages while 40% accept money payments. Yet doctors in surveys are claiming that the number of meetings they have with drug companies are decreasing and that "they cannot be influenced" by such compensations.

Interestingly, if doctors could not be influenced, why do drug companies continue to provide complimentary dinners and bonuses?


-J