The American Journal of Medicine
Volume 110, Issue 7 , Pages 551-557 , May 2001

Of principles and pens: attitudes and practices of medicine housestaff toward pharmaceutical industry promotions

  • Michael A. Steinman, MD

      Affiliations

    • VA National Quality Scholars Program (MAS), San Francisco, California, USA
    • Corresponding Author InformationRequests for reprints should be addressed to Michael Steinman, MD, VA Box 111G, San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 4150 Clement Street, San Francisco, California 94121; tel: (415) 750-6626; fax: (415) 750-6641
  • ,
  • Michael G. Shlipak, MD, MPH

      Affiliations

    • Division of General Internal Medicine (MGS), San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco, California, USA
  • ,
  • Stephen J. McPhee, MD

      Affiliations

    • Division of General Internal Medicine (MGS), San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco, California, USA
    • Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco (MAS, SJM), San Francisco, California, USA

,Accepted 1 February 2001.

References 

  1. Zuger A. Fever pitch: getting doctors to prescribe is big business. The New York Times. 1999 Jan 11;Sect:A:1 (col. 4).
  2. American Medical Association, Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs . Gifts to physicians from industry. JAMA. 1991;265:501
  3. Wazana A. Physicians and the pharmaceutical industry. Is a gift ever just a gift?. JAMA. 2000;283:373–380
  4. Lexchin J. Interactions between physicians and the pharmaceutical industry (what does the literature say?). Can Med Assoc J. 1993;149:1401–1407
  5. Hopper JA, Speece MW, Musial JL. Effects of an educational intervention on residents’ knowledge and attitudes toward interactions with pharmaceutical representatives. J Gen Intern Med. 1997;12:639–642
  6. McKinney WP, Schiedermayer DL, Lurie N, et al.  Attitudes of internal medicine faculty and residents toward professional interaction with pharmaceutical sales representatives. JAMA. 1990;264:1693–1697
  7. Keim SM, Sanders AB, Witzke DB, et al.  Beliefs and practices of emergency medicine faculty and residents regarding professional interactions with the biomedical industry. Ann Emerg Med. 1993;22:1576–1581
  8. Brotzman GL, Mark DH. The effect on resident attitudes of regulatory policies regarding pharmaceutical representative activities. J Gen Intern Med. 1993;8:130–134
  9. Hodges B. Interactions with the pharmaceutical industry (experiences and attitudes of psychiatry residents, interns, and clerks). Can Med Assoc J. 1995;153:553–559
  10. Sergeant MD, Hodgetts PG, Godwin M, et al.  Interactions with the pharmaceutical industry (a survey of family medicine residents in Ontario). Can Med Assoc J. 1996;155:1243–1248
  11. Reeder M, Dougherty J, White LJ. Pharmaceutical representatives and emergency medicine residents (a national survey). Ann Emerg Med. 1993;22:1593–1596
  12. Gibbons RV, Landry FJ, Blouch DL, et al.  A comparison of physicians’ and patients’ attitudes toward pharmaceutical industry gifts. J Gen Intern Med. 1998;13:151–154
  13. Caudill TS, Johnson MS, Rich EC, McKinney P. Physicians, pharmaceutical sales representatives, and the cost of prescribing. Arch Fam Med. 1996;5:201–206
  14. Madhavan S, Amonkar MM, Elliott D, et al.  The gift relationship between pharmaceutical companies and physicians (an exploratory survey of physicians). J Clin Pharm Ther. 1997;22:207–215
  15. Blake RL, Early EK. Patient’s attitudes about gifts to physicians from pharmaceutical companies. J Am Board Fam Pract. 1995;8:457–464
  16. Chren MM, Landefeld CS, Murray TH. Doctors, drug companies, and gifts. JAMA. 1989;262:3448–3451
  17. Chren MM, Landefeld CS. Physicians’ behavior and their interactions with drug companies. A controlled study of physicians who requested additions to a hospital drug formulary. JAMA. 1994;271:684–689
  18. Orlowski JP, Wateska L. The effects of pharmaceutical firm enticements on physician prescribing patterns. There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Chest. 1992;102:270–273
  19. Lurie N, Rich EC, Simpson DE, et al.  Pharmaceutical representatives in academic medical centers (interaction with faculty and housestaff). J Gen Intern Med. 1990;5:240–243
  20. Avorn J, Chen M, Hartley R. Scientific versus commercial sources of influence on the prescribing behavior of physicians. Am J Med. 1982;73:4–8
  21. Lichstein PR, Turner RC, O’Brien K. Impact of pharmaceutical company representatives on internal medicine residency programs. A survey of residency program directors. . Arch Intern Med. 1992;152:1009–1013
  22. Mahood S, Zagozeski C, Bradel T, Lawrence K. Pharmaceutical policies in Canadian family medicine training. Survey of residency programs. . Can Fam Phys. 1997;43:1947–1951
  23. Education Council, Residency Training Programme in Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, McMaster University . Development of residency program guidelines for interaction with the pharmaceutical industry. Can Med Assoc J. 1993;149:405–408

 Supported in part by a residency training grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration, Grant 5 D28 HP 19179–18, and the Resource Centers for Minority Aging research program of the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute of Nursing, and the Office of Research on Minority Health, National Institutes of Health, Grant 1 P30 AG15272. Dr. Shlipak is funded by a research career development award from the Health Services Research and Development division of the Department of Veterans Affairs. No other external funding supported this research project. This paper was delivered as an oral presentation at the Society of General Internal Medicine Annual Meeting, Boston, May 2000.

PII: S0002-9343(01)00660-X

The American Journal of Medicine
Volume 110, Issue 7 , Pages 551-557 , May 2001