Med Students Get One Gift a Week From Drug Companies

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http://www.mercola.com/2005/sep/22/med_students_get_one_gift_a_week_from_drug_companies.htm "Med Students Get One Gift a Week From Drug Companies"On average, third-year medical students receive one gift or attend oneactivity sponsored by a drug maker every single week.Students claim they aren't swayed by such marketing to look morefavorably on companies' products, but studies indicate that theprograms and gifts do influence what drugs they prescribe uponbecoming doctors.Over 80 Percent Thought They Were Entitled to GiftsFor a recent study, anonymous questionnaires were sent to over 1,000third-year medical students at eight different schools. * Over 93 percent of the students were asked or required by aphysician to attend at least one drug-company-sponsored lunch. * Nearly 70 percent of the students believed gifts would notinfluence their practices. * Close to 58 percent thought gifts would not affect colleagues'practices. * There was a tendency for students to feel their peers were morelikely to be influenced than they were. * Over 80 percent of the students believed they were entitled togifts. * Most students didn't know whether or not their schools had apolicy governing the acceptance of drug company giftsMore Likely to Mis-PrescribeThe researchers conducting the study said that drug company influencewill make students more likely to prescribe (and mis-prescribe)marketed products, and that students need to be educated about how tohandle promotional saturation.This study was part of a themed issue of the Journal of the AmericanMedical Association on medical education. Other studies found thatmedical students are faced with working so many hours that they're asimpaired as if they were nearly drunk, and that they have beeninadequately trained to deal with a culturally diverse patient base.Journal of the American Medical Association September 2005; 294:1034-1042Forbes September 6, 2005

------Dr. Mercola's Comment:Medical students might believe that they can remain uninfluenced bythe constant barrage of drug company marketing they face, but it isn'tso. Drug companies know perfectly well that the gifts, food, money,and advertising they shower on medical students has an effect, or theywouldn't bother to do it.Drug companies are the wealthiest corporations on the planet and haveaccess to the most sophisticated marketing firms available. Theycompletely understand that making these investments with medicalstudents has an enormous eventual return for them. Their media spinwill cause these new physicians to sincerely believe and adopt thedrug paradigm that continues to enrich their bottom line.The techniques they use are just as effective as combat brainwashingused by the military. I know, as I started medical school absolutelyset on doing wellness-oriented natural medicine and graduated as adrug-prescribing robot absolutely influenced by their marketing spinand conflict of interest journal articles.Unbiased doctors are becoming an increasingly rare commodity. Manystudies have found that doctors are much more likely to prescribe adrug if they've gotten a free sample of it. One study found that,after doctors took a free trip for "educational" purposes, theprescription they issued for the drug that was the subject of the tripmore than tripled.This has to change. As long as our current model of medicine stands,doctors will continue to prescribe useless and dangerous drugs for theultimate profit of the manufacturers. Don't be fooled. Take care ofyour health in ways that address underlying causes, rather than onlysymptoms.Related Articles: Doctors Must Stop Taking Freebies From the Drug Industry Drug Companies Spend Nearly $100 Million to Influence Congress Drug Companies Collect Secret Reports on Doctors

 

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