A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that 94 percent of doctors have relationships with the drug industry, such as receiving free food or drug samples, according to The Washington Post.
Other relationships between doctors and drug representatives included being reimbursed by the drug industry for continuing medical education or for giving lectures. Of the 1,662 doctors surveyed, one-third reported having been reimbursed for continuing medical education, according to the Post.
"We now know that virtually every doctor in the United States has some form of relationship with the pharmaceutical industry," Eric G. Campbell, lead researcher of the New England Journal of Medicine study and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, said. "They are common," Campbell said. "A quarter receive honoraria or some form of payment for their services, and that was much higher than we expected."
The study also found that the frequency of interactions between the drug representatives and doctors jumped from the average of 4.4 times a month in 2000, the Post reported. For example, family practitioners met with drug representatives an average of 16 times a month, the study said.
