Most family doctors receive little or no information on the harmful effects of drugs during visits by company representatives, scientific representatives. This is revealed by a study involving the 'white coats' of Canada, the United States and France, who have declared in any case that they intend to prescribe the medicines in question, confirming according to the authors, that their behavior is effectively influenced by pharmaceutical promotion. The investigation, published in the 'Journal of General Internal Medicine', examined the questionnaires filled in by doctors after each visit by the informants: in 59% of the cases no information was provided about the most common or serious side effects of the subject drug of the promotion.
With 66% tips in Vancouver and Montreal. Serious risks were mentioned in only 6% of the visits, even though the 57% of the drugs in question have a 'black box' on their packaging mandated by the FDA or Health Canada.
Compared to the situation on the other side of the ocean, doctors in Toulouse are more likely to be informed about the harmful effect of a medicine. This could reflect stricter regulations for the promotion of medicines introduced in France, according to the researchers.
Barbara Di Chiara – April 11, 2013 – PharmaKronos
