title: Interactions between medical residents and drug companies: a national survey after the Mediator® affair.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The present study aimed to describe exposure and attitudes of French medical residents towards pharmaceutical industry. The study was performed shortly after the Mediator affair which revealed several serious conflicts of interest inside the French health system.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A cross-sectional study was implemented among residents from 6 French medical faculties. Independent education in pharmacology, attitudes towards the practices of pharmaceutical sales representatives, opinions concerning the pharmaceutical industry, quality of information provided by the pharmaceutical industry, and opinions about pharmaceutical company sponsorship were investigated through a web-based questionnaire. We also assessed potential changes in resident attitudes following the Mediator affair. The mean value of exposure to drug companies was 1.9 times per month. Global opinions towards drug company information were negative for 42.7% of the residents and positive for only 8.2%. Surprisingly, 81.6% of residents claimed that they had not changed their practices regarding drug information since the Mediator affair. Multivariate analyses found that residents in anesthesiology were less likely to be exposed than others (OR = 0.17 CI95% [0.05-0.61]), exposure was significantly higher at the beginning of residence (p<0.001) and residents who had a more positive opinion were more frequently exposed to drug companies (OR = 2.12 CI95% [1.07-4.22]).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Resident exposure to drug companies is around 1 contact every 2 weeks. Global opinion towards drug information provided by pharmaceutical companies was negative for around 1 out of 2 residents. In contrast, residents tend to consider the influences of the Mediator affair on their practice as relatively low. This survey enabled us to identify profiles of residents who are obviously less exposed to pharmaceutical industry. Current regulatory provisions are not sufficient, indicating that further efforts are necessary to develop a culture of disclosure of conflict of interest and of transparency in residents.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Pharmacologie Médicale et Clinique, Faculté de Médecine de l'Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France; Service de Pharmacologie Médicale et Clinique, Centre Midi-Pyrénées de PharmacoVigilance, de Pharmacoépidémiologie et d'Informations sur le Médicament, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Toulouse, Toulouse, France; INSERM U 1027, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France; Département Universitaire d'Epidémiologie, d'Economie de la Santé et de Santé Publique, Faculté de Médecine de l'Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France; Service d'Epidémiologie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Montastruc
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Pharmacologie Médicale et Clinique, Faculté de Médecine de l'Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France; INSERM U 1027, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France; Service de Médecine Interne, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Guillaume
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Moulis
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Pharmacologie Médicale et Clinique, Faculté de Médecine de l'Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France; Service de Pharmacologie Médicale et Clinique, Centre Midi-Pyrénées de PharmacoVigilance, de Pharmacoépidémiologie et d'Informations sur le Médicament, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Toulouse, Toulouse, France; INSERM U 1027, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Aurore
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Palmaro
authors.affiliation: INSERM U 1027, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France; Département Universitaire d'Epidémiologie, d'Economie de la Santé et de Santé Publique, Faculté de Médecine de l'Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France; Service d'Epidémiologie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Virginie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gardette
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Pharmacologie Médicale et Clinique, Faculté de Médecine de l'Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France; Service de Pharmacologie Médicale et Clinique, Centre Midi-Pyrénées de PharmacoVigilance, de Pharmacoépidémiologie et d'Informations sur le Médicament, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Toulouse, Toulouse, France; INSERM U 1027, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Geneviève
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Durrieu
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Pharmacologie Médicale et Clinique, Faculté de Médecine de l'Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France; Service de Pharmacologie Médicale et Clinique, Centre Midi-Pyrénées de PharmacoVigilance, de Pharmacoépidémiologie et d'Informations sur le Médicament, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Toulouse, Toulouse, France; INSERM U 1027, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Louis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Montastruc
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D016265:Conflict of Interest; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004345:Drug Industry; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008297:Male; D008503:Medical Staff / Q000941:ethics; D010820:Physicians / Q000941:ethics*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult