Drug company influence extends to nurses, pharmacists, and patient groups
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《英国医生杂志》
The influence of pharmaceutical companies extends far beyond doctors, with its authority growing among nurses and pharmacists as well as patient groups, MPs heard last week.
Speaking at the third public session of the House of Commons Health Committee抯 inquiry into the influence of the drug companies, Matt Griffiths, senior charge nurse and joint prescribing adviser at the Royal College of Nursing, told MPs how interest from pharmaceutical companies in nursing had increased since nurses gained the right to prescribe.
As well as sponsoring meetings for nurses, pharmaceutical companies were active in running educational "diploma" courses for nurses on conditions such as asthma and diabetes.
Dr Iona Heath, a GP in London and former chair of medical ethics at the Royal College of General Practitioners, works in a practice that has not seen a drug company representative for 40 years. On learning about sponsored training, she said: "We all have local nurses, and it is interesting how they recommend changing to a different pen system or proprietary product. For a practice like ours we were all uncomfortable about the different gadgets being recommended, and it all makes sense now."
Rob Darracott, director of corporate and strategic development at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, said that pharmacists were not yet as far down the road as nurses to prescribing medicines, but he could see how literature from pharmaceutical companies could influence sales of over the counter medicines.
Dr Heath raised concerns about the role of the pharmaceutical industry in patient and campaigning groups, which she said were increasingly turning to the industry for financial sponsorship as less funding became available through government and public donations.
"Drug companies hope that a closer relationship will raise awareness of their products and increase pressure on the government to provide them," she said.
In written evidence to the committee, she called for greater transparency about how campaigning groups were funded and for people to be aware of the impact this could have on the activities of an organisation.
Dr Heath also pointed to the drawbacks of an increased investment by the industry in preventive health technologies. It has led to "disease mongering" among people who are not ill, or even at risk of getting ill, which has its own health problems "that we are only just beginning to see," she said.
"I see people who are inappropriately worried about osteoporosis and cholesterol every day. There are huge psychological and social implications for them and huge cost implications for society," said Dr Heath. "But there are limitations to these medicines. Some of them have huge 憂umbers needed to treat,?and the cost per gain is becoming increasingly huge. Also, it is the fittest, healthiest people who worry about cholesterol, whereas poorer, less healthy people, who could perhaps benefit from medication more because of their poor diet, are not going to buy over the counter statins."
Dr Richard Nicholson, editor of the Bulletin of Medical Ethics, called for more rigorous control of research and routine publication of all clinical trials.(London Zosia Kmietowicz)
Speaking at the third public session of the House of Commons Health Committee抯 inquiry into the influence of the drug companies, Matt Griffiths, senior charge nurse and joint prescribing adviser at the Royal College of Nursing, told MPs how interest from pharmaceutical companies in nursing had increased since nurses gained the right to prescribe.
As well as sponsoring meetings for nurses, pharmaceutical companies were active in running educational "diploma" courses for nurses on conditions such as asthma and diabetes.
Dr Iona Heath, a GP in London and former chair of medical ethics at the Royal College of General Practitioners, works in a practice that has not seen a drug company representative for 40 years. On learning about sponsored training, she said: "We all have local nurses, and it is interesting how they recommend changing to a different pen system or proprietary product. For a practice like ours we were all uncomfortable about the different gadgets being recommended, and it all makes sense now."
Rob Darracott, director of corporate and strategic development at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, said that pharmacists were not yet as far down the road as nurses to prescribing medicines, but he could see how literature from pharmaceutical companies could influence sales of over the counter medicines.
Dr Heath raised concerns about the role of the pharmaceutical industry in patient and campaigning groups, which she said were increasingly turning to the industry for financial sponsorship as less funding became available through government and public donations.
"Drug companies hope that a closer relationship will raise awareness of their products and increase pressure on the government to provide them," she said.
In written evidence to the committee, she called for greater transparency about how campaigning groups were funded and for people to be aware of the impact this could have on the activities of an organisation.
Dr Heath also pointed to the drawbacks of an increased investment by the industry in preventive health technologies. It has led to "disease mongering" among people who are not ill, or even at risk of getting ill, which has its own health problems "that we are only just beginning to see," she said.
"I see people who are inappropriately worried about osteoporosis and cholesterol every day. There are huge psychological and social implications for them and huge cost implications for society," said Dr Heath. "But there are limitations to these medicines. Some of them have huge 憂umbers needed to treat,?and the cost per gain is becoming increasingly huge. Also, it is the fittest, healthiest people who worry about cholesterol, whereas poorer, less healthy people, who could perhaps benefit from medication more because of their poor diet, are not going to buy over the counter statins."
Dr Richard Nicholson, editor of the Bulletin of Medical Ethics, called for more rigorous control of research and routine publication of all clinical trials.(London Zosia Kmietowicz)