National Survey on Doctors, Drug firms

Relationships between physicians and industry are common.

  • 94 per cent of doctors reported some type of relationship with the pharmaceutical industry.

  • 83 per cent said these relationships involved receiving food in the workplace.
  • 78 per cent said they involved receiving drug samples.
  • 35 per cent received reimbursement for costs of going to professional meetings or continuing medical education.
  • 28 per cent received payments for consulting, giving lectures, or enrolling patients in trials.
  • Cardiologists were more than twice as likely to receive payments as family doctors.
  • Family doctors met with industry reps more often than did doctors in other specialties.
  • Doctors who practised on their own or in group practices met with reps more often than those working in hospitals and clinics.

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