The syllogism is immediate: the doctor draws most of his knowledge about drugs from informants sent by the company; these have every interest in enhancing the advantages of the product while concealing its risks. The result is that the patient is at great risk.
A study conducted on more than 250 doctors in three countries (France, Canada and the United States) and published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine confirms this fear: interviewed immediately after meeting with the pharmaceutical company representative, almost 60 percent of doctors when questioned, he declared that no mention had been made of any of the side effects of the medicinal product presented; of the serious ones, then, only 6 percent of the informants spoke.
And we are not talking about fresh water: 57 percent of the products for which there was no mention of side effects even had the "black box", that is the symbol of particular danger affixed on the packaging by the US Food and Drug.
June 24, 2013 
