Gifts to Physicians Survey (Survey results from 27 January 2006 through 22 February 2006. N=65 respondents; reopened 1 February 2013.)
The survey has been reopened and you are invited to take it here. After taking the survey, you will be able to see the latest results and also get a discount code for a free download of the PMN article: Free Gifts to Physicians: What’s the Big Deal?.
See Resources & Further Reading below…
In the JAMA article, “Health Industry Practices That Create Conflicts of Interest,” a group of influential doctors argue that free gifts, drugs and classes that pharmaceutical and medical device makers routinely give doctors undermine good medical care. The authors also urge a ban on such gifts. You can read more about this in the NY Times article: “Doctors Urge Ban on Gifts From Drug Makers.”
More recently, researchers found that physicians who attended a medical school with a policy that prohibited gifts from drug companies were less likely to prescribe two of three newly marketed psychotropic drugs once they were in practice (see “Med School Pharma Gift Ban Has Lasting Impact“).
This survey asks your opinion whether or not the following gifts to physicians create conflicts of interest:
- Free drug samples
- Free meals away from the office
- Pharma-supported CME (free to physicians)
- Payment for consulting relationships
- Payment for travel to meetings or scholarships to attend meetings
- Payment for participation in speakers bureaus
- Free provision of ghostwriting services
- Grants for research projects
- Payment for attendance at lectures and conferences
- Free lunch delivered to office in exchange for sales presentation
Survey Results:
The overall results from 2006 are summarized in the chart below. The survey has been reopened and you are invited to take it here.
Respondents were asked “In your opinion, to what degree may EACH of the following pharmaceutical industry gifts/subsidies/payments to physicians present a potential conflict of interest? Think of it this way: if you vote High Degree, you favor banning the practice; if you choose Very Low Degree, you favor continuing the practice as is.” (Response ranges: High Degree of Conflict, Moderate Degree of Conflict, Neutral/Don’t Know, Not Much Conflict, Very Low Degree of Conflict):
- Free lunch delivered to office in exchange for sales presentation
- Free drug samples
- Pharma-supported CME (free to physicians)
- Free meals away from the office
- Payment for attendance at lectures and conferences
- Payment for travel to meetings or scholarships to attend meetings
- Payment for participation in speakers bureaus
- Free provision of ghostwriting services
- Grants for research projects
- Payment for consulting relationships
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
The survey has been reopened and you are invited to take it here. After taking the survey, you will be able to see the latest results and also get a discount code for a free download of the PMN article: Free Gifts to Physicians: What’s the Big Deal?.
