La Relación entre la Medicina y los Proveedores Médicos

Resumen

Abstract : In the last decades many voices from academic medicine are questioning the relationship between the pharmaceutical industry or other medical suppliers and the physicians. Conflict of interest has thus become a major issue of concern in medicine and is getting more and more important for medical journals and clinical work.Conflict of interestsmay emerge in the daily practice of medicine, in medical and pharmacological research, in the process ofpublication of medical journals and in the dissemination of public and private medical information, such as conferences, classes, books, pamphlets, monographs, etc.In recent yearsthe proliferating connections between physicians and the medical suppliers has reduced the credibility ofsomepatients in their doctors. The public seems to be increasingly skeptical of clinical medicine, since corporate actions that have placed profit over public health have become regular news in the media. Research centers and projects as well asmedical journals have been seen as an extension of the marketing arm of pharmaceutical companies. This undermines the credibility of medical practice, research work and pharmaceutical information which is submitted to journals and later included in meta-analysis, influencing the editorial decisions of therapeutic guidelines.In the meantime, while disclosure has become standard practice in North American, it has not achieved wide currency in Latin-America and Europe.The problems caused by the increasing financial ties between the pharmaceutical industry and researchers and clinicians can be addressed only by a complex effort encompassing the establishment of lines of support of independent researchers who are free of substantial conflict of interest. Better disclosure policies and conduct regulations as to financial ties are also urgently needed.