Ethics Governance
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| Article - Abstract. To view full article click on the article title. | |
eMJA: The medical profession and the pharmaceutical industry: when will we open our eyes? This has ethical implications for doctors, as it affects the trust required in the doctor–patient relationship. Doctors need to recognise they are affected by drug marketing, and take steps to maintain their independence from the pharmaceutical industry. At a time when leaders of the medical profession in Europe and North America are calling for a critical re-evaluation of how the medical profession “dances with the porcupine”1 of the pharmaceutical industry2-6 it is disappointing that leaders of the profession in Australia appear in denial about the influence of the industry on such things as the prescribing patterns of doctors, the clinical research agenda, and bias in the publication of pharmaceutical research findings.7-9 The most striking denial is that of the effect of pharmaceutical promotion of various kinds on the prescribing practices of doctors. 8,9 Here I wish to: acknowledge that the issues surrounding the relations between the medical profession and industry are not unidimensional; draw attention to the overwhelming evidence that our prescribing habits are open to industry influence; remind doctors of the key ethical issues which are at stake; and offer pragmatic suggestions for finding ways of reducing the dependence of the medical profession on support from the industry. Full Article: http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/180_08_190404/bre10055_fm.html |
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2006 Ethics-Governance.com |
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