Physician-industry relationship and conflicts of interest: Historical, normative aspects, negative impact and proposals

Abstract

This article presents a narrative review of the relationship between physicians and industry (RPI), which includes pharmaceutical, devices and supplements’ industries and the conflicts of interest that arise from this relationship. It introduces the problem through some definitions and a brief history review of how RPI has become a major problem in medical practice and health systems. The article discusses the different roles within the most common scenarios in which RPI occurs: biomedical research, clinical practice guidelines, continuing medical education, medical visits, opinion leaders, as well as in direct interaction, indirect exposure, and what we call, an early exposure. Some techniques used by industry to modify prescription habits based on elements of social psychology, are described, as well as the role of gifts and other marketing techniques on prescriptions. We review literature that shows the impact and effect these techniques have on medical practice. Finally, some initiatives, codes and recommendations that have been developed to address the problem and which could contribute to mitigate the negative effects of a very close RPI. The possible actions are: banning any contact between industry and students, inclusion of conflict of interests into the medical curricula, alternative financial support to continuous education, making the disclosure of conflicts of interests mandatory, launching awareness campaings among physicians, and the use of synthesized evidence that have been transparently and independently assessed, among others.

Keywords

• conflict of interest
• drug industry
• medical education
• medical ethics