Posted by Helen on: 05.08.2007 /
My Mom sent me an article about Daniel Carlat. He’s a psychiatrist who used to be paid a lot of money by drug companies to give lectures about their medications. He doesn’t do that any more.
“I had a kind of epiphany,” said Carlat, also on the faculty of the Tufts University School of Medicine. “I realized the obvious — that I was being paid to say good things about drugs, regardless of what my actual opinions were.”
He not only walked away from the extra money and perks, he resolved to fight what he saw as an increasingly pernicious influence on psychiatric practice.
These days, operating from an old brick building in this quaint seaside town, he sees patients and puts out The Carlat Psychiatry Report, a monthly newsletter on psychiatric developments that aims to be more aggressively free of drug-company influence than any other, from its content to the financial ties of its writers.
read the whole article (update: sorry, this requires free registration)
I was glad to hear about a doctor taking a stand and speaking out about the conflict of interest created when drug companies pay doctors to tell people about their product. How is that not hiring doctors as salespeople for the drug company? How can we be sure that a doctor is prescribing a drug because he/she thinks it’s best, when we know he’s receiving money from the company who manufactures it?
By refusing the money, Dr. Carlat can be honest in his newsletter. As the article says
[his newsletter] aims to cut through layers of drug advertising and studies sponsored by drug companies to a relatively spin-free bottom line.
The Report might warn, for example, that a new drug is merely a tweaked version of an older drug whose patent is about to expire — meaning the new drug is probably not worth its sticker price.and say
Maybe next time I receive a prescription I will be brave and ask “Have you ever received money from the company who manufactures this drug? If so, what for?”
Comment by: Helen
1Speaking of drug companies and inappropriate practices, I just read this today (from this web page)
Attorney General Gansler Announces Settlement with
Purdue Pharma Pharmaceutical Company;
Company to Change Practices in Marketing of Oxycontin
Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced today that his Consumer Protection Division, together with the offices of Attorneys General from 26 other states, has entered into a settlement of Consumer Protection Act claims against Purdue Pharma (“Purdue”) regarding the narcotic pain medication OxyContin, a time-released narcotic drug approved for the treatment of moderate to severe pain over an extended period of time. The settlement resolves concerns that Purdue engaged in extensive off-label marketing of OxyContin and that Purdue failed to adequately disclose abuse and diversion risks associated with the drug in violation of the Consumer Protection Act.
The complaint filed by the Consumer Protection Division alleges that Purdue aggressively promoted OxyContin to doctors and consumers as a first-choice analgesic for treatment of a wide variety of pain symptoms, including those beyond the approved indications and uses of the drug. Although OxyContin has addictive qualities similar to morphine, Purdue downplayed the known risks of OxyContin abuse, addiction and diversion for inappropriate uses. Purdue failed to adequately warn doctors or consumers of OxyContin’s significant risks and failed to take reasonable steps to guard against OxyContin abuse and diversion.
“It is important that pharmaceutical companies adopt responsible policies that minimize the improper usage of their products,” said Attorney General Gansler. “These companies must communicate clear and accurate information about the risks of the drugs that they market.”
Comment by: jim henderson
2I read an article a couple of months ago about a test that established that most of the new Psychotropic drugs (which cost 10 times as much) did not work any better than the old ones
Comment by: Doreen
3re: physicians and drug advertising
“Digestive Disease Week,” featuring 16,000 gastro doctors, was just held in DC. I had to drive right by the convention center every day about 4-5pm to get to class. It was amazing to see all the Rx ads on the taxis, buses, and anywhere else they could put them.
Comment by: Helen
4Exactly. The more I hear about drug companies and doctors the more concerned I get about conflicts of interest.