BMJ  2003;327:343 (9 August), doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7410.343

Letter

Prognosis of entanglement could be serious

The first 100% of the full text of this article appears below.

EDITOR—I am not surprised by the findings presented by Moynihan in his article on drug companies and their entanglements.1 If advertising didn't work companies wouldn't spend millions on it.

From my friends in the advertising world, I know that face to face encounters and "friendly gestures" are key pieces of successful advertising campaigns. Several writers have suggested that we, as highly intelligent professionals, can resist such marketing techniques. That is a conclusion that may be right for an individual but is not generalisable to the population as a whole.

The evidence presented by Moynihan seems strong and deserves our attention. When the prognosis could be serious, it is imprudent to ignore early signs and symptoms.

Steven Murphy, family medicine resident

Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, 1403 West Lomita Boulevard, Harbor City, CA 90501, USA dr.murphy@uwalumni.com

Competing interests: SM is a member of JCIR (Joint Council of Interns and Residents), the union representing all house staff in the public hospitals of Los Angeles County.

  1. Moynihan R. Who pays for the pizza? BMJ 2003;326: 1189-92. (31 May.)[Free Full Text]

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Relevant Article

Who pays for the pizza? Redefining the relationships between doctors and drug companies. 1: Entanglement
Ray Moynihan
BMJ 2003 326: 1189-1192. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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