Are Drug Companies Bribing Doctors?
According to Cambell, the pharmaceutical industry pumps $20 billion per year into its marketing budget. Most of that goes toward freebies given to physicians. Examples including medication samples, lunches, and sponsorship of educational programs, He concludes that if the pharmaceutical marketers didn’t think it was working, they would have stopped by now. Commentators have suggested that in the case of free samples, once a doctor begin treating a patient with a free sample, they are obligated to continue the treatment regime. “It appears pretty clear that industry forms tighter relationships with doctors who are really the thought leaders, the ones who are likely to affect the behavior of other doctors,” said coauthor David Blumenthal of the Institute for Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital.
