Most U.S. doctors take drug company freebies: study

By Gene Emery

BOSTON (Reuters) - Virtually all U.S. doctors take freebies from drug companies, and a third take money for lecturing, signing patients up for trials or going to meetings, according to a survey published on Wednesday.

The study of 1,662 physicians found that 94 percent "reported some type of relationship with the pharmaceutical industry," with more than 83 percent receiving food in the workplace and 78 percent receiving free samples.

More than a third admitted getting payments from the drug companies for giving lectures, signing up patients for drug testing, or going to medical meetings.

And the more influential a doctor was, the greater the likelihood that he or she would be benefiting from a drug company's largess, the researchers report in this week's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Dr. Eric Campbell of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School said patients may not want to know their doctor was being influenced in this way.

He likened it to a baseball umpire getting meals from a team owner.

"We assume that the guy who's umping the Red Sox game doesn't get frequent lunches from the owners of the Red Sox, and those owners don't pay for them to go to exotic places and have seminars on how to call games," Campbell said in a telephone interview.

Only about half the doctors sent questionnaires responded to the survey, even after being sent $20 for their time.