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4/19/09 Interview 2

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Part 2: Difficult Decisions in Health Care. Upstate Ethicist Gregory Eastwood, MD, considers the ethical dilemmas that can occur when pharmaceutical companies and medical equipment manufacturers collaborate with physicians on clinical trials and research studies, and when these companies are given easy access to physician offices.

Health Information Center Resources for Pharmaceutical Sales and Prescription Writing Behavior:

• Book: Hooked: Ethics, the Medical Profession, and the Pharmaceutical Industry, by Howard Brody. Published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2007. Available through bookstores and libraries, including the Health Information Center and Amazon.com.
• Conflict of Interest Policies at Academic Medical Centers, PharmFree Scorecard from the American Medical Student Association. Ranking of academic medical centers based on criteria of pharmaceutical company involvement.
• "Sunshine" bill sets $100 trigger for disclosing drug industry pay to doctors, Physician Payments Sunshine Act - Federal legislation proposed to increase disclosure of gifts to physicians.
• Following the Script: How Drug Reps Make Friends and Influence Doctors, by Adriane Fugh-Berman and Shahram Ahari. PLoS Med v.4(4); Apr 2007 e150.
• Health Industry Practices That Create Conflicts of Interest: A Policy Proposal for Academic Medical Centers, by Troyen A. Brennan and others. JAMA, Volume page 295:429-433, 2006.
• The Prescription Project - advancing medical practice and policy.
• No Free Lunch - health care providers who believe that pharmaceutical promotion should not guide clinical practice.
• Lunch and Earn, a collaboration of pharmaceutical companies and restaurants.

HEALTH INFORMATION CENTER
at SUNY Upstate Medical University

News & Views:

Doctors Urge End to Corporate Ties

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