Week 3 social media 5pm class By: Allison Gleason Besch … Continue reading →

The majority of family doctors receive little or no information from drug company representatives about potentially harmful effects of medications, according to an international study of U.S, Canadian, and French physicians. The findings are published online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. A release from the lead investigating institution, the University of British Columbia, reports that the participating doctors indicated that they were likely to start prescribing these drugs. This is consistent with previous research that shows prescribing behavior is influenced by pharmaceutical promotion. The study, which had doctors fill out questionnaires about each promoted medicine following sales visits showed that a whopping 59% of sales representatives failed to provide any information about common or serious side effects and the type of patients who should not use the medicine. Worse yet, in Vancouver and Montreal, no potential harms were mentioned for 66% of promoted medicines. The release quotes lead author Barbara Mintzes as saying, "Laws in all three countries require sales representatives to provide information on harm as well as benefits. But no one is monitoring these visits and there are next to no sanctions for misleading or inaccurate promotion." Serious risks were mentioned in only 6% of the … Continue reading →

TORONTO - Most family doctors say they receive little or no information about harmful effects of medications when visited by drug company sales representatives promoting their products, a survey of Canadian, U.S. and French physicians has found. The study, which involved 255 doctors in Montreal, Vancouver, Sacramento and Toulouse, France, shows that sales reps failed to provide any information about common or serious side-effects and the type of patients who should not use the medicine in 59 per cent of promotions. In Vancouver and Montreal, no potential harms were mentioned for 66 per cent of promoted medicines, says the study published online Wednesday in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. "Laws in all three countries require sales representatives to provide information on harm as well as benefits," said principal researcher Barbara Mintzes of the University of British Columbia. "But no one is monitoring these visits and there are next to no sanctions for misleading or inaccurate promotion." Serious risks were mentioned in only six per cent of the promotions, even though 57 per cent of the medications involved in these visits came with U.S. Food and Drug Administration "black box" or Health Canada boxed warnings the strongest warnings issued in … Continue reading →

Smoking in youth-rated movies doubles Smoking in youth-rated movies doubles Smoking scenes in youth-rated movies doubled in number between 2010 and 2012, and have returned to the same level as a decade ago, according to a new report. Smoking scenes in youth-rated movies doubled in number between 2010 and 2012, and have returned to the same level as a decade ago, according to a new report. Drug company salespeople provide family doctors with little or no information about the harmful effects of medicines they are promoting, a new study says. Drug company salespeople provide family doctors with little or no information about the harmful effects of medicines they are promoting, a new study says. A centuries-old bedbug remedy has scientists full of beans -- kidney beans to be precise. A centuries-old bedbug remedy has scientists full of beans -- kidney beans to be precise. Internet searches for information about mental illnesses follow seasonal patterns, which suggests that there may be a stronger association between mental disorders and changing seasons than previously believed. Internet searches for information about mental illnesses follow seasonal patterns, which suggests that there may be a stronger association between mental disorders and changing seasons than previously believed. … Continue reading →

Most family doctors say they receive little or no information about harmful effects of medications when visited by drug company sales representatives promoting their products, a survey of Canadian, U.S. and French physicians has found. The study, which involved 255 doctors in Montreal, Vancouver, Sacramento and Toulouse, France, shows that sales reps failed to provide any information about common or serious side effects and the type of patients who should not use the medicine in 59 per cent of promotions. In Vancouver and Montreal, no potential harms were mentioned for 66 per cent of promoted medicines, says the study published online Wednesday in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. Laws in all three countries require sales representatives to provide information on harm as well as benefits, said principal researcher Barbara Mintzes of the University of British Columbia. But no one is monitoring these visits and there are next to no sanctions for misleading or inaccurate promotion. Serious risks were mentioned in only 6 per cent of the promotions, even though 57 per cent of the medications involved in these visits came with U.S. Food and Drug Administration black box or Health Canada boxed warnings the strongest warnings issued in both … Continue reading →

Drug company sales reps rarely provide even minimal safety information about the pills theyre promoting, even when the medicines carry black box warnings, the gravest of all drug alerts, a Canadian-led international study suggests. The study, which involved family doctors from Canada, the U.S. and France, found that serious risks were mentioned in only six per cent of drug promotions. More than half 57 per cent of the sales pitches were for drugs that carry boxed warnings from American or Canadian drug regulators or were subject to recent safety advisories. Our results suggest a serious lack of information on harmful effects of promoted medicines, the University of British Columbia-led research team wrote in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. Such omissions may threaten patient health. For their study, researchers had doctors in Montreal, Vancouver, Sacramento, Calif., and Toulouse, France complete questionnaires after consecutive visits from drug reps. Doctors were asked to fill out the questionnaires either immediately after each office visit or later the same day. Physicians were randomly recruited from the three countries from May 2009 to June 2010 to see whether differences in rules governing drug promotions made a difference to the information being provided. Laws in all … Continue reading →

Latest Prevention & Wellness News WEDNESDAY, April 10 (HealthDay News) -- Drug company salespeople provide family doctors with little or no information about the harmful effects of medicines they are promoting, a new study says. Despite this lack of knowledge, doctors are likely to start prescribing these drugs after visits from company representatives, according to the findings from questionnaires completed by American, Canadian and French doctors. The study revealed that salespeople failed to provide any information about common or serious side effects or warn doctors about types of patients who should not use the medicine in 59 percent of the promotions. "Laws in all three countries require sales representatives to provide information on harm as well as benefits," lead author Barbara Mintzes, of the University of British Columbia, said in a university news release. "But no one is monitoring these visits and there are next to no sanctions for misleading or inaccurate promotion." Serious risks were mentioned in only 6 percent of the promotions, even though 57 percent of the medicines involved in these visits came with U.S. Food and Drug Administration "black box" or Health Canada boxed warnings, which are the strongest types of drug warnings in the two … Continue reading →