Medical-Ethics News Featured in Reports
Jul 6th, 2009 • Posted in: NewsArizona Republic profiles student who uses bootleg brain booster; Boston Globe says new state ethics policy will increase transparency of drug prescription process and lower prices; AMA publication reports on new policy saying doctors have ethical obligation to care for poor patients
VARIOUS DATELINES
Press reports last week covered various angles on medical ethics. Among the week’s stories:
- The Arizona Republic reports on the slippery slope of brain-boosting drugs, noting that more than half of Americans drink coffee for a mental boost and millions buy nutritional supplements purported to improve focus and memory. But now, reports the Republic, the market for such products is “expanding into a new, and potentially more revolutionary, phase…. Prescription drugs designed to treat conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and narcolepsy are turning up in the hands of healthy college students and professionals who are using them illegally as ‘cognitive enhancers.’” The Republic interviewed a 22-year-old graduate of Arizona State University who said he used pirated doses of the drug Adderall, which normally is prescribed to treat attention deficit disorder. The student said the drug allowed him to “focus incredibly” and that he used it during his senior year for finals and major papers. “When I just needed to hunker down and do what I needed to do, the first thing that came to mind was, ‘I need to get some Adderall,’” he told the Republic.
- Massachusetts last week became the sixth U.S. state to restrict drug-industry gifts to doctors. Drug companies now will have to publicly disclose payments to doctors for speaking or consulting. In an editorial titled “Better Ethics, Cheaper Drugs,” the Boston Globe comes out in favor of the new rules, contending that marketing inflates the cost of medicine. “All the favors that drug companies do for doctors raise overall health costs in two ways,” the editorial says. “First, they are a substantial part of the $57.5 billion that the industry spends annually on marketing, a cost that gets added on to each prescription a patient buys. Second, the industry’s goal in influencing doctors is often to get them to prescribe a new, higher-priced medication when a generic or cheaper name-brand competitor is just as effective.”
- The American Medical Association (AMA) has adopted a policy saying that doctors have an ethical obligation to care for patients, regardless of their ability to pay. The AMA publication American Medical News reports that the new policy says that as long at is “fiscally sustainable,” doctors should accept uninsured patients, maintain relationships with patients who lose their health care coverage, and help patients access public and charitable programs. The policy change comes about as charity care donated by doctors decreases, possibly as a result of sinking physician income, according to American Medical News.
Sources: Arizona Republic, July 5 — Boston Globe, July 5 — American Medical News, June 29.
For more information, see: Related Newsline story, June 22 — Related Newsline story, June 1 — Related Newsline story, May 25 — Related Newsline story, May 11 — Related Newsline story, May 4.
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