Attitudes and Relationship between Physicians and the Pharmaceutical Industry in a Public General Hospital in Lima, Peru

Abstract

BackgroundThe interaction between physicians and the pharmaceutical industry influences physicians' attitudes and prescribing behavior. Although largely studied in the US, this topic has not been well studied in resource-poor settings, where a close relationship between physicians and industry still exists.ObjectiveTo describe physician interactions with and attitudes towards the pharmaceutical industry in a public general hospital in Lima, Peru.DesignDescriptive, cross-sectional study through an anonymous, self-filled questionnaire distributed among faculty and trainee physicians of five different clinical departments working in a Peruvian public general hospital. A transcultural validation of an existing Spanish questionnaire was performed. Exposure to marketing activities, motivations to contact pharmaceutical representatives and attitudes towards industry were studied. Collected data was analyzed by degree of training, clinical department, gender and teaching status. Attitudes were measured on a four-point LIKERT scale.Results155 physicians completed the survey, of which 148 were included in the study sample. 94.5% of attending physicians reported ongoing encounters with pharmaceutical representatives. The most common industry-related activities were receiving medical samples (91.2%), promotional material (87.8%) and attending meetings in restaurants (81.8%). Respondents considered medical samples and continuing medical education the most ethically acceptable benefits. We found significant differences between attendings and residents, and teaching and non-teaching attendings. An association between the amount of encounters with pharmaceutical representatives, and attitudes towards industry and acceptance of medical samples was found.ConclusionsA close physician-industry relationship exists in the population under study. The contact is established mainly through pharmaceutical representatives. Medical samples are the most received and ethically accepted benefit. The attitudes of physicians on the ethical standards of acceptance of medical samples and other benefits are closely related with their exposure to the pharmaceutical industry. Future studies could explore the motivations of physicians working in resource-poor settings to maintain a close relationship with industry.

Interaction and medical inducement between pharmaceutical representatives and physicians: a meta-synthesis

“…Eight of these articles focused on physicians’ attitudes and views regarding physician-PR interactions [9, 21–27]; four focused on the nature of the interaction [26, 28–30]; two concentrated on the frequency of these interactions [31, 32]; and two focused on the reasons behind such interactions [33, 34]. The detailed themes and extracted text is presented in Additional file 3.…”

“…Lieb et al reported that 77.0% (n = 160) of German respondents met with PRs at least once a week, and 19.0% (n = 39) were visited by PRs on a daily basis [29]. Other studies also reported that PRs visit physicians regularly in order to promote their products [9, 21, 22, 26, 29, 32]. De Ferrari et al studied the relationship between the specialty of the prescriber and the frequency of PR visits [9].…”

“…Other studies also reported that PRs visit physicians regularly in order to promote their products [9, 21, 22, 26, 29, 32]. De Ferrari et al studied the relationship between the specialty of the prescriber and the frequency of PR visits [9]. Physicians involved in teaching and those practicing paediatric medicine, were reported to receive more frequent visits, while anaesthetists were found to be least frequently visited by PRs [9].…”

“…Research has shown that the interaction between PRs and the physicians can directly influence the latter’s prescribing behaviour; it has been observed that the rate of prescriptions increases after physicians see a PR or accept free samples [8]. This has led to increasing concern over irrational and inappropriate prescribing practices [9] which could jeopardize patient care, harm the patients, promote the misuse of drugs, increase costs to the healthcare system, distort public opinion of the healthcare industry and erode the trust of the patients in the integrity of medical decision making [8, 10]. …”

Public Relations as Part of Integrated Communication of an Enterprise-Consumer Oriented On

“…This can in turn undermine patients' well-being and finances. Furthermore, physicians are not completely aware of the influence of pharmaceutical marketing on their own prescription patterns, but they seem to recognize other physicians' prescribing patterns (De Ferrari, Gentille, Davalos, Huayanay, & Malaga, 2014). As reported by Kisa (2006), there is a balance to be struck between maximizing effectiveness, minimizing risks and costs and prescribing appropriately while respecting patients' choices.…”