Most Doctors Still Think It's Okay to Take Gifts From Big Pharma

Upcoming JAMA study documents that attitudes towards Big Pharma and medical device industry have changed little, in spite of recent hype to the contrary.

A study soon to be published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Archives of Surgery (JAMA) documents that most physicians still take gifts from pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers. Medical researchers at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine surveyed a wide range of physicians practicing in medical centers associated with the school.

The results are noted in the first paragraph of the article:

We now know that nearly all physicians maintain some relationship with industry, beginning with near-universal exposure to pharmaceutical industry marketing during medical school. Most practicing physicians accept drug samples and gifts, most commonly food in the workplace, and smaller numbers of physicians accept larger payments, such as reimbursement of costs of educational meetings and conferences and speaking and consulting fees.

The Study

The authors—Deborah Korenstein, MD; Salomeh Keyhani, MD, MPH; and Joseph S. Ross, MD, MHS—approached the heads of 61 medical departments. Of those, only 35 participated. Of the 26 nonparticipants, 3 refused outright, 9 agreed but couldn’t distribute the surveys at the time required, and 14 didn’t even acknowledge the request.

880 surveys were distributed. 590 (67%) were returned and completed. 313 of the respondents (54.2%) were familiar with their departments’ policies regarding taking gifts from pharmaceutical and medical device companies. 145 (24.6%) had worked collaboratively with pharma or device industry businesses.

Results

The surveyed physicians generally held positive views towards accepting industry gifts, and believed that accepting them was not only acceptable, but even beneficial:

• 58.2% said that samples improve patient care.
• 65.6% believe that pharmaceutical company materials are useful in learning about new drugs.
• 78.5% believe that device company materials are useful in learning about new devices.
• 71.1% believe that it’s okay for companies to fund medical school programs, and 60.8% felt the same for residency programs.
• 80.5% believe that sponsored rounds are “instructive and educational”, though 68.0% believe that they’re biased.
• 69.5% feel it’s okay to take gifts and lunches. 35.6% acknowledge it affects their prescribing and believe that it affects 52.2% of their colleagues’ prescribing.
• 72.7% believe that their prescribing is unaffected by pharma ads and 74.4% believe the same of device company ads.
• Only 32.9% believe that residents and students should be prohibited from interacting with pharma and device companies, and a mere 23.2% believe that attending physicians should be so limited.

In terms of the size and type of gifts deemed acceptable, 72.2% think that a meal in a clinical setting is okay, and 35.5% think that a meal in a restaurant with no educational component is okay.

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