Virtual Mentor. June 2006, Volume 8, Number 6: 357-436. Full Issue PDF

June 2006 Contents

Sound Prescribing

Ethics Poll

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.

From the Editor

Rx for Physician Prescribing Practices
Jennifer Reenan
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2006; 8:359-361.

Educating for Professionalism

Clinical Cases

Unnecessary Antibiotics
Commentary by Johathan Finkelstein
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2006; 8:362-366.

Hidden Costs of Free Samples
Commentary by Richard Adair
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2006; 8:367-371.

The Gift-Giving Influence
Commentary by Frederick Sierles
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2006; 8:372-376.

Prescribing Placebos
Commentary by Perry Fine
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2006; 8:377-380.

Journal Discussion

Patent (and Public Health) Pending
Philip Perry
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Virtual Mentor. 2006; 8:387-391.

Medical Education

E-Prescribing
Jorge Ruiz and Brian Hagenlocker
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Virtual Mentor. 2006; 8:381-386.

Clinical Pearl

Clinical Manifestations of Vitamin B-12 Deficiency
Jennifer Reenan
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2006; 8:392-396.

Law, Policy, and Society

Health Law

Neurontin and Off-Label Marketing
Christian J. Krautkramer
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Virtual Mentor. 2006; 8:397-402.

Policy Forum

Reputation, Gatekeeping and the Politics of Post-Marketing Drug Regulation
Daniel Carpenter
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Virtual Mentor. 2006; 8:403-406.

Medicine and Society

Direct-to-Consumer Drug Ads, Patient Autonomy, and the Responsible Exercise of Power
Richard Kravitz and Jodi Halpern
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2006; 8:407-411.