Posted by: euser
January 08, 2009
Topic: Drug Companies

Physicians have a conflict of interest when they are being paid by corporate entities as researchers for drug and medical device manufacturers. A large number of physicians, especially at teaching hospitals, are on the payrolls of some of America's largest corporations, those who are pharmaceutical manufacturers and the maker of medical devices. Does this influence their treatment?

The Cleveland Clinic, located in Cleveland, Ohio, is one of the most prominent and cutting-edge medical centers for both treatment and research in the United States. This clinic has made a recent decision to provide a complete disclosure of its doctors' and its researchers' financial ties to corporate entities. This information will be available on its web site at http://www.clevelandclinic.org/. Hospitals and physicians are under mounting pressure to disclose potential conflicts of interest. These conflicts of interest occur when doctors are being paid by certain medical products device manufacturers and pharmaceutical drug manufacturers to provide research opinions and are then faced with treatment choices for patients that may include the use of those drugs or products as compared to other drugs, products or courses of care. The doctors' opinions may be biased because they receive payment for their work from the companies for whom they are supposed to be performing independent research. It should be noted that other physicians then read and rely on this research that may be biased because of the large amounts of money paid to the doctors performing the research.

The Christian & Davis law firm believes that the Cleveland Clinic is taking a step in the right direction. Better communication in all respects between patients and their medical provider lead to better and more economical results for patients. All too often a lack of communication leads to a lack of proper care or patients who do not understand the nature of their condition or their need for treatment. Many of the medical malpractice cases reviewed by this law firm result from poor communication which does not adequately prepare the patient for the treatment or leaves the patient without an adequate understanding of why the serious medical complication occurred. In many of those cases, Christian & Davis was able to explain to our client that their injury was the result of an unfortunate but unavoidable complication. On many other occasions, we are able to conclude that the injury resulted from inappropriate care and are able to assist the patient in recovering fair and appropriate compensation.

Web Resources

Legal links:

• Christian & Davis, LLC's main website
• South Carolina Bar Association
• American Association for Justice
• South Carolina Trial Lawyers Association
• Findlaw
• Lawyers.com

Consumer and workers info links:

• Workcompcentral.com
• Home Safety Council
• People Over Profits Grassroots Action Center

Governmental links:

• South Carolina Judicial Department
• United States Judicial Department
• South Carolina Legislature
• Food and Drug Administration
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration
• U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission

Nursing Home links:

• South Carolina LTC Ombudsman
• National Citizens' Coalition for Nursing Home Reform
• Member of the Family - Nursing Home Quality Trends & Staffing

Medical Resources:

• Lectric Law Library Lawcopedia's: Medical Malpractice
• New England Journal of Medicine
• Agency for Quality Health Care and Research
• Anatomy of the Human Body
• Workers Compensation Agencies
• National Library of Medicine
• Physician Profiles - Healthcare Choices
• AMA - Physician Sheet Health Grade
• Hospital Report Cards
• Merck Manual of Diagnosis & Therapy
• Merck Manual of Medical Information
• National Health Law Program HealthTouch
• Prescription Drug Information MedExplorer
• Medical Dictionaries