Doctors That Make Us Look Bad
I like that this article was written. In it Robert Pearl highlights doctors who were on the take or who have fabricated studies. I agree that the only way to disinfect ourselves from these things is to expose them. His recommendations are:
1. Prohibit doctors from accepting anything at all from drug or device companies.
2. Form an ethics committee to address any concerns doctors may have.
3. Direct all research funding, regardless of the source, to the institution and not to individuals.
4. Require all providers to disclose any past payments, prior to the policy’s implementation.
I think his points are valid so you may want to read the whole Forbes article. What do you think? Is it time to get tougher on exposing these docs and/or in penalizing them?
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I hate the double standard that occurs with #1.
Doctors cannot take any gifts from vendors yet for all the healthcare suits the perks flow freely. I get it, healthcare is different from producing widgets. But when the administrators and drug reps are making more than the PCPs there has got to be a better way to ensure that the healthcare dollars are buying healthcare for patients instead of more luxury for the suits.
I have a problem with item 3: Promotion up the institutional/academic ladder is already driven by economic “productivity” as well as by fame and its poor cousin, service to the community. In addition, if anything, the institutional managerial hierarchy is the most susceptible entity when money is the object, however packaged and by whomever proffered. I think the only “conflict-of-interest-free” approach would be to anonymize the donor and/or the honoree, or better yet for money to be contributed to a broadly-based pool from which support could be drawn for projects deemed worthy on their merit without consideration of the grantee or the institution receiving the funds. Good luck on that!
and who does the worthiness deeming?…..”the ethics committee”
“Prohibit doctors from accepting anything at all from drug or device companies.”
Great idea, but why stop there? Let’s prohibit lawyers, accountants, teachers, any living human being from accepting anything at all from anyone.
Tops on the prohibit list is The Honorable Polit.
Unless you have a fully private practice, the payments go to institutions, not you or your lab. Also, getting federal and other grants is exceedingly hard as the “old guard” who got previous grants is more likely to get them again. Succinct solution- get the private grants no matter from whom to go via the institution, all else will not matter..