Shorts

DOCTORS SELLING DRUGS TO THEIR PATIENTS

Are doctors' offices being turned into salesrooms? Some, certainly. And this practice is drawing more criticism as it becomes more common even though it is perfectly legal. Why? Because a doctor who sells a patient a product may be behaving unethically and involved in a financial conflict of interest.

Doctors themselves (and their patients) are divided about the practice, as recent discussions in the medical journals have revealed. This is an issue that runs through both mainstream medicine and CAM medicine. Some doctors sponsor health product lines (even a hundred products or more) that could easily stock a big shelf in a pharmacy. The issue blew up recently when The New York Times revealed how cancer doctors were selling cancer drugs. The so-called 'chemotherapy concession'. And it turns out, this direct selling to patients brings in a total of hundreds of millions of dollars each year. More details of this practice of doctors selling directly to their patients are likely to surface, as conflict-of-interest issues in medicine are finally on the map.

MEDICAL JOURNALS REFUSING DRUG ADS?

Yes, it's true and may become a major trend. A new research journal, Annals of Family Medicine, will actually be supported mainly through dues (subscription). Six medical organizations (family medicine groups) have put this project together. If it works and the concept spreads, it could seriously challenge the status quo and distance editorial content from the awesome clout of drug advertising. The impact? Well, there is no need to get too excited about this right now, but it signals that some medical organizations are beginning to react to the corruption that plagues the medical field.

RedFlagsDaily Health Trend Forecast, 17th May 2003.
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