Today’s New York Times features an unsettling exposé by Gardiner Harris and Janet Roberts on “the widespread financial ties between pharmaceutical companies and the doctors who prescribe and recommend their products.” The article focuses primarily on the medical community in Minnesota, which is “the first of a handful of states to pass a law requiring drug makers to disclose payments to doctors.” While such laws are a good first step toward bringing to light the degree to which the sellers and prescribers of medication are in bed with one another, more stringent measures to prevent this undue and unsafe influence appear necessary. In Minnesota, even with open disclosure, there has been no notable ebb to the flow of money:

The Minnesota records begin in 1997. From then through 2005, drug makers paid more than 5,500 doctors, nurses and other health care workers in the state at least $57 million. Another $40 million went to clinics, research centers and other organizations. More than 20 percent of the state’s licensed physicians received money. The median payment per consultant was $1,000; more than 100 people received more than $100,000.

Doctors receive money typically in return for delivering lectures about drugs to other doctors. Some of the doctors receiving the most money sit on committees that prepare guidelines instructing doctors nationwide about when to use medicines….

In dozens of interviews, most doctors said that these payments had no effect on their care of patients….

But research shows that doctors who have close relationships with drug makers tend to prescribe more, newer and pricier drugs — whether or not they are in the best interests of patients.

“When honest human beings have a vested stake in seeing the world in a particular way, they’re incapable of objectivity and independence,� said Max H. Bazerman, a professor at Harvard Business School. “A doctor who represents a pharmaceutical company will tend to see the data in a slightly more positive light and as a result will overprescribe that company’s drugs.� [full text]

However well intentioned and disciplined physicians may be, there is a very real danger that the aggressive marketing tactics of the pharmaceutical companies will compromise their medical judgment and practice—and, in turn, compromise the health of their patients. For this reason alone, there is a need to set greater limits on these pernicious practices so as to ensure that the public is protected and the field of medicine maintains its integrity. As the Times article notes, recent polling suggests that there is considerable support for such measures:

A New York Times/CBS News poll last month found that 85 percent of respondents thought it “not acceptable� for doctors to be paid by drug companies to comment on prescription drugs. Eighty-five percent also said such payments would influence the decisions that doctors made about patient care.

Despite such public opinion, any potential legislation faces an uphill battle against a determined army of pharmaceutical company lobbyists. No matter the odds, it is paramount that, as citizens, we clamor as loudly as possible for the protections that are our due. Please consider contacting your state and federal legislators to demand greater limits on the increasingly incestuous relationship that exists between drug makers and doctors. Feel free to attach a link or a copy of the text of this article.