How much influence do drug companies have on my doctor?

We all like to think that doctors act in our best interest and cannot be influenced by drug companies. However, the research on this subject suggests that drug companies exert considerable influence over physicians.

A 2004 study revealed that of the 15 largest drug companies, the industry spent about 1/3 of its total marketing budget on payments to physicians. Another study done in 2007 showed that 94% of doctors had some type of relationship with a drug company:

83% received meals from drug companies
35% received reimbursement for costs associated with a professional meeting
28% received payment for consulting, giving lectures, serving on advisory panels, or enrolling patients in clinical trials.
Dr. Jerome Kassirer, former editor-in-chief of the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, says that doctors are indeed influenced by these relationships. “The evidence is really quite clear that money has a major influence on decisions doctors make,” said Dr. Kassirer.

Another area of influence occurs at medical education courses attended by doctors. These seminars, often held in exotic destinations, are often paid for by the drug industry.

Another common area of influence occurs with “ghostwriting.” Under this scenario, a drug company writes an article for a medical journal and then pays a doctor to sign his or her name to the article in order to give the article credibility.

Clinical drug trials are also frequently manipulated. At least 70% of all drug trials are funded by the industry and every aspect of a trial can be manipulated. The physician researchers have a conflict of interest because they are being paid to conduct the study by a company that wants a favorable result. One court found that industry funded drug trials are 5.3 times as likely to be approved as non-commercially funded studies. The result is that dangerous drugs enter the market every year.

Although drug companies have been ordered to pay immense fines for wrongdoing, these fines are meaningless. Even the most staggering fines represent only a few weeks of income for these companies. The process is clear: companies violate the law, make huge profits until they are caught, and then give a small portion of the profit back to the government. Until someone goes to jail, this will continue to be the standard practice for many drug companies.

The Tennessee drug injury lawyers at Bailey & Greer can investigate and handle your defective drug case. We handle cases nationwide, including Pradaxa lawsuits and Actos lawsuits. Call us toll free at 1-888-470-9143.