Apparently, it's not just a few activist Congressional reps who want doctors to fess up to payments from pharmaceutical companies. A new poll found that Americans want to know whether their physicians are getting gifts or payments from drugmakers. The Prescription Project's survey showed that more than half of respondents thought they should know their doctors' relationships with pharma, but only a third said they'd be willing to ask directly.

Hence the move toward mandating disclosure, one version of which is making its way through the Senate as we speak. This survey showed that the public supports mandatory disclosure--by a margin of 2 to 1. That's not surprising, considering that half of the respondents believe doctors' prescribing habits are influenced by pharma gifts and payments.

- read the item [1] at the Boston Globe
- check out the Pharmalot post [2]

Related Articles:
Harvard officials to probe psychiatrists' drug payments [3]
Med schools don't police pharma gifts, report says [3]
Foundation draws charges of industry influence [4]