Creating demand for prescription drugs

1. Do you think it is possible for the pharmaceutical industry to fund continuing medical education for physicians and keep marketing separate from educating?
Yes
No

2. Patients sometimes request treatment that their physicians regard as non-effective, e.g., a vitamin B-12 injection for energy. In such cases, the physician should:
Explain that the treatment will have no beneficial effect and refuse to provide it.
Explain that there is no evidence that the treatment will have any beneficial effect, then comply with the request as long as the treatment poses no risk of harm.
Say nothing and, as long as the treatment poses no risk, comply with the request. The patient's belief in the treatment may have a therapeutic effect.

3. The most apt description of direct-to-consumer drug ads is that, on the whole, they are:
Beneficial because they motivate patients to seek more information from their doctors.
Harmful because they can mislead the public, cause patients to pressure physicians for unnecessary prescriptions, and increase drug marketing costs and, therefore, drug costs.
A lawful exercise of freedom of speech and, as long as they meet requirements for truth in advertising, should not be considered harmful.