Study reports ties between academia and drug companies

The relationships between physicians and drug companies have been under scrutiny. It is widely known that pharmaceutical companies have given community clinicians gifts, trips, CME funding, and/or lunch for many years. However, the extent to which academic physicians and medical schools have such relationships with drug makers was previously unknown. The October issue of JAMA includes an article reporting results of a study by Campbell et al that examined institutional academic-industry relationships.

The authors surveyed the department chairs of 125 accredited medical schools and the 15 largest independent teaching hospitals in the United States, 459 department chairs (67%) completed the survey. The results showed that institutional relationships with industry appear to be just as widespread as those of community clinicians. More than half of all department chairs surveyed had financial ties with the drug industry (eg, paid consultant, scientific advisory board member, paid speaker) and two-thirds of departments had relationships with industry (eg, receiving research equipment, unrestricted funding, seminar support). A previous study found that third-year medical students receive on average 1 gift or attend 1 activity sponsored by a drug maker each week.

A MedlinePlus news release regarding the publication quotes Campbell, “There is not a single aspect of medicine in which the drug companies do not have substantial and deep relationships, affecting not only doctors-in-training, resident physicians, researchers, physicians-in-practice, the people who review drugs for the federal government and the people who review studies.” In addition, he questions what reasonable justification drug companies have to be involved in the education of medical students.

Sources: 1. Campbell EG et al. Instituational academic-industry relationships. JAMA. 2007;298:1779-1786; 2. U.S. medical schools, drug makers share strong ties. MedlinePlus Web site. Available at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_56236.html. Accessed October 17, 2007.