Thank you to the readers who wrote to us about commercial company interaction with physicians. Levy says it well.
Physicians use multiple sources of information about drugs, which is appropriate. Approved new drugs may be beneficial for multiple reasons. For example, a once-a-day formulation may improve compliance for a specific patient, improving outcomes.
Goldstein and Ives suggest that the Archives of Family Medicine require that commercial companies include the cost of drugs in their advertisements within our pages. This is an interesting idea but impractical for the individual journal as the companies produce the same advertisements to appear in multiple places. Perhaps the FDA would consider the idea for national implementation.
It takes a lot of time to keep up with the new drugs (even the old ones), including the appropriate uses for individual patients. It is also an effort that can substantially benefit our patients and is an inherent part of being a patient advocate.
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