Relationships between Doctors and Drug Suppliers

Paper Summary:

This paper is a report from a medical supply company regarding the responsibility of physicians who work in close association with pharmaceutical companies to put the well being of their patients at the forefront of their professional work. The paper states, that whilst cooperation between doctors and pharmaceutical companies is essential for the development of new treatments, the doctor's prime consideration is, and must always be, the well being of his patient. The writer states that there have been cases where doctors have put their association with a pharmaceutical company before the good of their patients but, in the vast majority of cases, the exact opposite is true.

From the Paper:

"There have been exceptions to the above, where physicians have, in the opinion of their peers, overstepped their boundaries and represented the medical suppliers' interest more than their patients or the value of their science. A recent case, involving Dr. Martin Leon of Columbia, was particularly egregious. Dr. Leon revealed evidence from a clinical trial prior to its 'unveiling' date, which caused a significant movement in the stocks of several medical device companies. The response of the medical community was immediate and severe. Dr. Leon was suspended from editorial boards of the Journal of the American Cardiology Society and the New England Journal of Medicine for at least five years (Wood 2007). Dr. Leon's reputation as a clinical trials clinical investigator and participant was therefore permanently disadvantaged."

Sample of Sources Used:

• CDISD. "Clinical Data." CDISD. 2007. http://www.cdisc.org/ (accessed November 21, 2007).
• NEJM. "Understanding Financial Conflicts of Interest." New England Journal of Medicine, 1993: 573-576.
• Wolfe, S. "Testimony Before FDA Advisory Committee Concerning the Protocol for Biopure s Blood Substitute HBOC-201 (HRG Publication #1795)." Public Citizen. December 14, 2006. http://www.citizen.org/publications/release.cfm?ID=7492 (accessed November 21, 2007).
• Wood, S. "NEJM bars Martin Leon from reviewing research or authoring reviews and editorials post-COURAGE embargo breach." The Heart, April 20, 2007: n.p.

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