DOES your doctor have a financial interest in the treatment you are being prescribed? To address such concerns, a report by the US released on Tuesday suggests that all payments by drug and medical devices companies to doctors, scientists and patient groups in the US be posted publicly online.
As well as informing patients, the hope is that this will deter lavish payments to doctors and to researchers testing the drugs. 鈥淐ompanies may be less likely to pay large sums of money,鈥� suggests of the Washington and Lee University School of Law in Lexington, Virginia, who contributed to the report.
Making disclosure mandatory will require new laws, but in a climate of growing public concern about medical conflicts of interest, and with US healthcare reform in the works, the time may be ripe.
Advertisement
