Drug ads influence drug prescription rate

As a physician, I have often found the business of medicine to be contradictory. One cynical way to look at drug companies is that they are making a profit on the misfortunes of others. A more optimistic view would be that they are making money on improving the health of others. (I suppose you could also apply the same views to doctors.) Whichever view you prescribe to, there is no doubt that there exists some conflict of interest in the pharmaceutical industry. And given this inherent conflict of interest, I don't think that the responsibility of what's best for the patient can be placed in the hands of the drug companies. The federal government has and certainly can do more to "regulate" the industry, but I honestly don't have the full confidence that our government can be free without significant conflict of interest as well. Just look at how powerful the pharmaceutical industry is as a lobbying group. I think the largest burden of responsibility about the correct use of these medications falls on two groups of people: doctors AND patients. In the Kaiser survey, 81% of the people had a favorable view of physicians. That places an enormous amount of responsibility on doctors to do what's best for their patients. Doctors have been heavily targeted by drug companies to alter their prescribing patterns through a variety of programs and "incentives", and this too has led to changes in prescribing practices. However, inherent in all physician training is the duty and responsibility to serve the patients' best interest first. I don't think drug company sales representatives have that same type of training.

Patients also have a significant responsibility concerning the use of medications. After all, they have the final say as to whether they will ultimately take it. The more educated a patient is about their disease, the better I think their overall care will be. Some physicians don't like having the patient ask too many questions, but I am not one of those. I am more uncomfortable with the patient who says, "You're the doctor. Just tell me what to do," as opposed to the one who shows interests and asks questions. I think informed patients have better relationships with their doctors, a better understanding of their disease, and have better outcomes with treatment. I have no significant issues with drug companies marketing directly to the public so long as the information is truthful and portrayed honesty. In fact, these ads can increase public awareness of diseases. And, I certainly have no problem with patients asking about a particular drug that they saw on TV. My job as a healthcare provider is to render my best medical opinion, suggest any alternatives, and help patients make decisions about what's best for them. This may or may not lead to a new prescription.

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