Financial payments from the pharmaceutical industry associated with the medical prescription



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Below are summaries of new articles that will be published in the next issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. Abstracts are not intended to replace full articles as a source of information. This information is subject to a strict embargo and, by taking possession of it, media representatives agree to abide by the terms of the embargo not only on their own behalf, but also on behalf of the organization they represent. .

1. Financial payments from the pharmaceutical industry associated with the medical prescription

Summary: https: //www.acpjournals.org /do I/ten.7326 /M20-5665

The URL is put online when the embargo is lifted

A systematic review of published research found that financial payments from the pharmaceutical industry to U.S. doctors were associated with an increase in the prescription of the drug from the paying drug company. The association was consistent across all studies, and several studies presented evidence that the association was not correlation, but causation, meaning the giveaways of the industry have caused doctors to prescribe differently. The results are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Financial payments from the pharmaceutical industry to physicians are common and worrying. Payments include both cash (typically for consulting services or guest lectures) and in-kind donations, such as meals. From 2015 to 2017, 67% of all American doctors received payments. This proportion exceeded 80% in some specialties (medical oncology, orthopedic surgery, urology, and others), and in many specialties the monetary value of personal payments has increased in recent years.

Researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center looked at 36 published studies including 101 analyzes to assess whether receiving payments from the pharmaceutical industry is associated with physician prescribing practices. The researchers found that the literature was unanimous. Literally every study found an association between gifts and prescription, and the association was present among all specialties and types of drugs, including cancer drugs and opioids. According to the researchers, these findings suggest that personal industry payments reduce the ability of physicians to make independent treatment decisions and may be harmful to patients. They recommend that the medical community change its historic opposition to reform and call for an end to these payments.

Media Contacts: For an embargoed PDF, please contact Lauren Evans at [email protected]. To reach the corresponding author, Aaron P. Mitchell, MD, MPH, please contact Rebecca Williams at [email protected].

2. Ingestion of a single battery mimics a heart attack in adult humans.

Summary: https: //www.acpjournals.org /do I/ten.7326 /L20-1123

The URL is put online when the embargo is lifted

Ingestion of a single AA battery triggered a reaction that mimicked a myocardial infarction on an electrocardiogram (ECG) in an adult male patient. This effect has previously only been observed in people who have swallowed several batteries. A case report is published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Researchers at San Giovanni di Dio Hospital in Florence, Italy describe the case of a 26-year-old male inmate who went to the emergency room with abdominal discomfort after deliberately swallowing a single battery 2 hours earlier. The patient had no history of cardiovascular disease or cardiovascular risk factors, except for smoking, but his ECG showed an elevation of the ST segment consistent with an acute myocardial infarction with elevation of the ST. He did not report any symptoms related to acute myocardial infarction, his serum troponin levels were within normal limits, and his transthoracic ECG did not show any changes in heart wall movement or effusion. pericardial. The clinicians removed the battery during endoscopy and all ECG abnormalities disappeared. Although the mechanism for this effect has not been established, the authors believe that the entry of a battery into the acidic contents of the stomach could facilitate an electric current that travels to the lower parts of the heart, where it can be detected by an ECG.

Media Contacts: For an embargoed PDF, please contact Lauren Evans at [email protected]. The corresponding author, Marzia Giaccardi, MD, can be contacted directly at [email protected].

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