Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Task Force: Ban Drug Reps From 'Ivory Towers' Published: Dec 10, 2013 | Updated: Dec 11, 2013 By David Pittman, Washington Correspondent, MedPage Today

Drug sales reps should be banned from academic medical centers, but mingling between faculty and pharma researchers is not a problem, according to a conflict-of-interest task force.
"Pharmaceutical sales representatives should not be allowed access to any faculty, students, or trainees in academic medical centers or affiliated entities," the task force, convened by the Pew Charitable Trusts, wrote in a 30-page report released Tuesday. "However, faculty may invite pharmaceutical scientists for specific educational or scientific discussions that do not involve marketing of a specific product."
The task force -- with representatives from seven academic medical centers, various consumer organizations, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), and the American Medical Student Association -- referenced a review of 29 studies that found physicians who interacted with sales reps prescribed lower-quality, higher-cost drugs compared with non-exposed doctors.
Current AAMC policy recommends that sales reps only be allowed on academic medical centers by appointment and that they be prohibited from entering patient-care areas.
Banning sales reps is one of seven recommendations the task force made, all of which would tighten current AAMC recommendations.
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