title: Physicians and the pharmaceutical industry: a growing embarrassment and liability.
abstract: The pharmaceutical industry, comprising corporate-owned, for-profit enterprises, employs nearly one sales representative with a budget of about $100,000 for each 11 practicing physicians. Physician contact with these individuals, epitomized by the drug company "free lunch," results in non-rational prescribing and increases the overall cost of prescription medication to patients. Other influential methods employed by the industry include sponsorship of tainted journal articles, restrictions on research, and biased continuing medical education. Physicians are often unaware of their vulnerability to these tactics. Remedies are suggested.
authors.affiliation: Gundersen-Lutheran Medical Center, La Crosse, WI, USA.
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Whiteway
mesh_terms: D004345:Drug Industry; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing; D004989:Ethics; D006801:Humans; D016365:Liability, Legal; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D017594:Publication Bias; D012109:Research Support as Topic