I'd like to point out that some of the practice guidelines, which
are growing
rapidly in number, can be very powerful advertising tool and boost sales
of
pharmaceutical companies. The companies are deeply involved in the whole
process of making the guidelines; they pay for the meetings, committees,
participants, and authors of the guidelines. They also play an active
role in
spreading the guidelines. All of these efforts can be paid back if their
products are 'officially' recommended in the guidelines. Dominant drug
companies are conducting large clinical studies to label their product as
'highly recommened' in the guidelines. These trends have potential harm
to
deviate medical practice and can result in a great profit to the
pharmaceutical companies at the expense of patients.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests:
No competing interests
02 February 2005
Takeharu Koga
Attending physician
Kurume University School of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Kurume, 830-0011 Japan
Rapid Response:
What practice guidelines are for ?
I'd like to point out that some of the practice guidelines, which
are growing
rapidly in number, can be very powerful advertising tool and boost sales
of
pharmaceutical companies. The companies are deeply involved in the whole
process of making the guidelines; they pay for the meetings, committees,
participants, and authors of the guidelines. They also play an active
role in
spreading the guidelines. All of these efforts can be paid back if their
products are 'officially' recommended in the guidelines. Dominant drug
companies are conducting large clinical studies to label their product as
'highly recommened' in the guidelines. These trends have potential harm
to
deviate medical practice and can result in a great profit to the
pharmaceutical companies at the expense of patients.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests