Med Students Get One Gift a Week From Drug Companies

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Med Students Get One Gift a Week From Drug Companies

 

On average, third-year medical students receive one gift or attend one

activity sponsored by a drug maker every single week.

 

Students claim they aren't swayed by such marketing to look more

favorably on companies' products, but studies indicate that the

programs and gifts do influence what drugs they prescribe upon

becoming doctors.

 

Over 80 Percent Thought They Were Entitled to Gifts

 

For a recent study, anonymous questionnaires were sent to over 1,000

third-year medical students at eight different schools.

 

* Over 93 percent of the students were asked or required by a

physician to attend at least one drug-company-sponsored lunch.

* Nearly 70 percent of the students believed gifts would not

influence their practices.

* Close to 58 percent thought gifts would not affect colleagues'

practices.

* There was a tendency for students to feel their peers were more

likely to be influenced than they were.

* Over 80 percent of the students believed they were entitled to

gifts.

* Most students didn't know whether or not their schools had a

policy governing the acceptance of drug company gifts

 

More Likely to Mis-Prescribe

 

The researchers conducting the study said that drug company influence

will make students more likely to prescribe (and mis-prescribe)

marketed products, and that students need to be educated about how to

handle promotional saturation.

 

This study was part of a themed issue of the Journal of the American

Medical Association on medical education. Other studies found that

medical students are faced with working so many hours that they're as

impaired as if they were nearly drunk, and that they have been

inadequately trained to deal with a culturally diverse patient base.

 

 

Journal of the American Medical Association September 2005; 294:1034-1042

 

Forbes September 6, 2005

 

Dr. Mercola's Comment:

 

Medical students might believe that they can remain uninfluenced by

the constant barrage of drug company marketing they face, but it isn't

so. Drug companies know perfectly well that the gifts, food, money,

and advertising they shower on medical students has an effect, or they

wouldn't bother to do it.

 

Drug companies are the wealthiest corporations on the planet and have

access to the most sophisticated marketing firms available. They

completely understand that making these investments with medical

students has an enormous eventual return for them. Their media spin

will cause these new physicians to sincerely believe and adopt the

drug paradigm that continues to enrich their bottom line.

 

The techniques they use are just as effective as combat brainwashing

used by the military. I know, as I started medical school absolutely

set on doing wellness-oriented natural medicine and graduated as a

drug-prescribing robot absolutely influenced by their marketing spin

and conflict of interest journal articles.

 

Unbiased doctors are becoming an increasingly rare commodity. Many

studies have found that doctors are much more likely to prescribe a

drug if they've gotten a free sample of it. One study found that,

after doctors took a free trip for " educational " purposes, the

prescription they issued for the drug that was the subject of the trip

more 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 the

ultimate profit of the manufacturers. Don't be fooled. Take care of

your health in ways that address underlying causes, rather than only

symptoms.

 

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