Educating healthcare professionals about pharmaceutical promotion.

Abstract

I read with great interest the editorial on the pharmaceutical company-healthcare relationship published in the April-June issue of this journal [1]. Clinical practice guidelines are increasingly used by physicians to guide treatment decisions, and the pharmaceutical industry focuses on influencing the authors of these guidelines. Almost one in four guideline writers with no disclosed ties may have potentially relevant undisclosed ties to pharmaceutical companies [2]. Doctors are in a fiduciary relationship with patients and expected to act in their best interests. The relationship with the industry influences doctors in several ways; they may obtain information about medicines, but this information has been provided with an intention of influencing prescribing and increasing sales of the medicine [3].