WTF?

I wonder how many people noticed this cute feature of the weekly calendar? I have to admit, I only realised today after seeing a clever little graphic of daily drug dispenser in a piece on Consumerist.com …

Apparently the New York Times is examining doctors who take money from drug companies, to make what are termed Educational speaking engagements. These are simply used to pitch the various drug products the contributing company manufactures.

This comes as little suprise, using opinion leaders to move products is a staple of the marketing industry, and in itself isn’t specifically un-ethical, so long as the speakers are firmly of the belief that these new drugs & products offer new benefits, and progress the medical profession.

It’s now a long stretch of the imagination that firm belief might possibly be swayed by a nice fat cheque, that might be a little skeptisism on my part.

However the article goes on to state that…

“When honest human beings have a vested stake in seeing the world in a particular way, they’re incapable of objectivity and independence,”
said Max H. Bazerman, a professor at Harvard Business School. “A doctor
who represents a pharmaceutical company will tend to see the data in a
slightly more positive light and as a result will overprescribe that
company’s drugs.”

Read more about this at The Consumerist, and The New York Times.

Blogged with Flock

can you Digg it? is it del.icio.us?

Category: Uncategorized