Where should we draw the line - at the point at which we recognize a potential conflict of interest or at the point where our patients may consider our judgment compromised?
Should this be an individual choice or a company/institution policy?
In what situations should we as pharmacists be required to declare any real or perceived conflicts of interest?
13 comments:
Do you find that some of your decisions are influenced by drug companies (through lunches, free supplies, etc.) when making daily decisions?
How do drug manufacturers gifts (free stuff, lunches, etc.) affect the healthcare system in general?
Do you think it would be inappropriate for pharmacists to accept gifts for trying to increase the amount of a specific drug company's product sold? What if the new drug is just as effective as the old one?
How do you think the new rule (pharmaceutical companies are banned from giving gifts to physicians and pharmacists) would affect the pharmaceutical sales?
I honestly do not feel like pharmaceutical companies "influence" pharmacies one way or another in this day in time. I mean honestly, when is the last time you seen a CVS pharmacist stand in awe at the mumbo-jumbo spoken by some drug rep? More often than not the pharmacist just stands there and listens, grits and bears it, accepts the goodies and finally slips away to go check a BILLION more prescriptions that have piled up since he has been gone for 5 minutes.
Maybe independent pharmacies receive kickbacks or something that I'm not used to at a chain, but we honestly couldn't care less what a drug rep has to say. Not to sound hateful towards the drug reps, they are just doing their job, but we are pushed by our company to take advantage of "generic opportunities" - not to mention graded in relation to the rest of the district. So how could we honestly take advantage of bribery?
BOTTOM LINE: We make way more money off of generics (they cost less to acquire, we charge the same rx processing fees) than we could ever hope to off of a brand name med. Couple this with larger companies micro-managing to ensure you do indeed take advantage of these opportunities --> No real impact on patient care from "bias".
-Dustin (P1)
Do you think that lunches provided from drug companies for "education" are more acceptable than promotional items such as pens, clocks, and notepads?
Do you think that if the pharmacy staff is influenced by various pharmaceutical companies, whether it be gifts, supplies or samples, that the influence would even be understood or noticed by the patients?
How do you, as pharmacists, feel about drug representatives and manufacturers being made to discontinue gifts at the end of this year? Do you feel that this will improve the healthcare system, or have no effect at all?
Hello- I run the clinical deparmtent for my organization and I can tell you that we are not influenced by the lunches and dinners that we have with pharma. We even have a dividing line internally between our clinical and contracting departments so that we minimze influences both internally and externally from pharma. From my perspective there has been a tremendous decrease in the "gifts" and now I usually just get a few pens. What has increased is the unbranded disease state materials which we have been able to use on occasion.
For every clinical recommendation we make to a pharmacist, we have to provide all of the back-up information that is supporting our recommendation. It is what our colleagues expect from us and in the end it is showing that we are credible clinical pharmacists who can be trusted.
It will be intersting to see what the impact is to pharma. From my perspective and my position as a clinical pharmacist, it will not impact me greatly at all.
I believe that an individual has character and integrity or not. Conflicts of interest happen every day, most of them intuitively obvious. It is an individual decision on where to draw the line. Companies/institutions attempt to set guidelines but ANYTHING can be worked around or sidestepped. I have seen this throughout my business career which spans 40 years in all facets of the prescription drug industry. These conflicts will continue no matter what laws or regs say or try to attempt to stop. It is the individual's choice and each circumstance is different. Character, honesty, and integrity will prevail if the individual has those qualities.
Pharmaceutical companies influence on pharmacies and pharmacists is very rare. I have worked with many pharmacists in physician's offices, hospitals, and community settings and they always go back to the data instead of taking what the sales representative says as top line information. This also has been true of multiple physicians that I have worked with collaboratively.
Just like any other product being sold in the marketplace, leaving items that carry the products name is another way to advertise and prompt people to ask questions. It will be interesting to see how banning these gifts will affect pharmaceutical sales. For products that are real blockbusters and really make a difference in a patients' disease state there may be no affect, but less effective medications may see a harder hit. Especially, with all of the generic availability and products coming off patent.
It seems like when pharmacists are incorporated into lunches provided by sales representatives, there is more open discussion about the pros and cons of the medication being presented. I cam remember in one setting we always had a round table at the physicians office once the sales representatives had left to clear up any confusion. Many times the only information that a physician receives about a new medication is from a sales representative due to their busy schedule. That is why it is so important that pharmacists work more closely with physicians to clear up any confusion about a new therapy and how it compares to products that have been on the market.
Pharmaceutical companies influence on pharmacies and pharmacists is very rare. I have worked with many pharmacists in physician's offices, hospitals, and community settings and they always go back to the data instead of taking what the sales representative says as top line information. This also has been true of multiple physicians that I have worked with collaboratively.
Just like any other product being sold in the marketplace, leaving items that carry the products name is another way to advertise and prompt people to ask questions. It will be interesting to see how banning these gifts will affect pharmaceutical sales. For products that are real blockbusters and really make a difference in a patients' disease state there may be no affect, but less effective medications may see a harder hit. Especially, with all of the generic availability and products coming off patent.
It seems like when pharmacists are incorporated into lunches provided by sales representatives, there is more open discussion about the pros and cons of the medication being presented. I cam remember in one setting we always had a round table at the physicians office once the sales representatives had left to clear up any confusion. Many times the only information that a physician receives about a new medication is from a sales representative due to their busy schedule. That is why it is so important that pharmacists work more closely with physicians to clear up any confusion about a new therapy and how it compares to products that have been on the market.
Another attempt by PhRMA to appeal to health care professionals to use ethical judgements in choosing medications. It is considered safe to eliminate any gray areas or loopholes in industry guidelines. It is sad that professional ethics alone cannot satisfy these concerns.
I understand that there is an expected reciprocation to any nice gesture like a pen, sticky pad or pizza. In the end, there will be those who still try to beat the system and who always work under the radar of ethics.
Many drug company representatives provide much more that food or gifts. It is truly disappointing that educational meetings and lunches will be scrutinized and in many cases, eliminated. Staff and clinical pharmacists often rely on these educational conferences and discussions to better understand new and existing drug therapies.
Post a Comment