BMJ  2006;333:1121 (25 November), doi:10.1136/bmj.39037.697315.3A

Letters

Doctors as lapdogs to drug firms

The beast is ourselves

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Fugh-Berman is correct that we need to bite something tender and to get out of that lap.¹ But we are fighting the wrong beast. The beast is not the pharmaceutical industry—it is ourselves.

Pharmaceutical companies sell products under the banner of science. But their only raison d'être is to make money. Industry has to balance genuine hypothesis testing and transparency against commercial interests and the financial consequences of dishonesty. This is not in itself a criticism—it is a simple fact.

It is also of course true that the industry provides products which are often beneficial to our patients. It is equally evident that many actions of industry have not resulted in benefit, and have instead caused harm. More importantly, we are often completely unable to assess the degree of harm, because information is hidden by gag clauses, the threat of litigation, and cosy commercial arrangements between the regulators and industry.^{1 2}

. . . [Full text of this article]

¹ Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, Sheffield S5 7AU ablumsohn-3@yahoo.co.uk

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