Profession
Drug rep interaction widespread
■ An occasional snapshot of current facts and trends in medicine.
Quick View. Posted June 11, 2007
Nearly every physician has accepted something from a manufacturer of drugs or devices.
| Involvement with drug industry | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samples | Gifts | Reimbursements | Payments | |
| Cardiology | 1.64 | 1.14 | 1.04 | 2.20 |
| Family practice | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Internal medicine | 0.72 | 0.54 | 1.26 | 1.35 |
| Pediatrics | 0.56 | 0.67 | 0.59 | 0.51 |
| Surgery | 0.43 | 0.82 | 0.75 | 0.43 |
| Anesthesiology | 0.05 | 0.89 | 0.31 | 0.21 |
| Index values in each category are relative to family practice, set at a baseline of 1.0 | ||||
A recent survey of 1,651 doctors in six specialties found that 78% of physicians accepted drug samples; 83% accepted gifts such as free lunches in the office or tickets to ballgames; 35% were reimbursed for continuing medical education expenses; and 28% were paid for consulting, speaking, serving on advisory boards or enrolling patients in clinical trials.
Of the doctors surveyed, 94% had at least one of these encounters. But according to the study's multivariate regression analysis, the degree to which physicians accepted samples, gifts, reimbursements or other payments varied by specialty.
Source: "A National Survey of Physician-Industry Relationships," New England Journal of Medicine, April 26
