Drug company freebies undermine patient trust in doctors

All 'gifts' should be banned, says a report from the Royal College of Physicians
Drug company handouts to doctors, in the shape of flights to conferences, hotel stays, meals and gifts, must end to re-establish patients' trust in prescribers, a high-level inquiry has urged. A report from a working group of the Royal College of Physicians, with members from the pharmaceutical industry as well as patient representation, found that there were widespread suspicions about the relationship between the drug companies and doctors. A picture of "relentless pressure on doctors exerted by pharmaceutical marketing, masquerading as education, is common," says the report.
Read article in the Guardian (UK)

Supermarkets are being urged to curb cheap alcoholic drink promotions.

Supermarkets where drink is sold like water - Telegraph

Extracts:

"Pressure has been mounting for restrictions on supermarkets which sell discount alcohol.

Plans have already been announced to curb cheap drink promotions in Scotland and experts have called for promotions to be outlawed across Britain to reduce the number of alcohol-related deaths.

Prof Ian Gilmore, the president of the Royal College of Physicians and a liver specialist at the Royal Liverpool Hospital, said: "I think it is important to understand that alcohol is not an ordinary commodity.''

There was a clear link between price and the amount of alcohol consumed, he said. He welcomed the Scottish plans and said "they should be introduced here"."

"Britain's drinking culture:

- 8.2 million problem drinkers
- 13 times the risk of liver disease through excessive drinking
- 3,000 people a year killed or seriously injured in alcohol-related road crashes
- 4,160 deaths in England and Wales from liver disease last year
- £20bn cost to the economy of alcohol misuse
- 1 million employed in bars, nightclubs and restaurants.
- £217m spent annually on alcohol treatment
- £250m spent annually on advertising alcohol
- 63,000 people receiving treatment for drink-related disorders.
- 47p, the price of a bottle of super-market lager
- 75p, price of a bottle of super-market water
- £10bn, the total of duty and VAT receipts collected on alcohol"

Plans to clamp down on the way cigarettes are sold are being considered by the government to protect children's health.

Plans for clamp on teenage smoking - The Observer

Extracts:

"Radical plans to clamp down on the way cigarettes are sold are being considered by the government in an effort to tackle historically high levels of smoking among teenagers.

The blueprint for making cigarettes harder to buy, particularly for young people, have been drawn up by leading doctors and will now be evaluated by the Department of Health.

The sale of packs of 10 cigarettes - attractive to teenagers because they are cheaper - would be banned and cigarettes kept out of sight in shops."

"The far-reaching suggestions from the BMA's board of science are intended to reduce the harm which adult smoking does to children. Its report, 'Breaking the Cycle of Children's Exposure to Tobacco Smoke', stresses that parental smoking has a profound impact on the health of offspring, through inhalation of second-hand smoke, house fires caused by cigarettes and encouraging youngsters to regard smoking as normal. Having parents who smoke increases the chance of young people smoking."

"The measures are intended to reduce what the Treasury has estimated is the 80 billion cigarettes bought in the UK every year and, over time, cut the annual toll of about 112,000 deaths - 70,000 in men and 42,000 in women - linked to smoking. About 1,000 people a day are admitted to hospital in England alone suffering from smoking-related diseases such as cancer, heart disease and respiratory problems.

Although only a quarter of British adults smoke, almost half the country's children are exposed to tobacco smoke at home, according to research by Cancer Research UK, the leading cancer charity. The Royal College of Physicians estimates that more than 17,000 children under five are admitted to hospital every year because of passive smoking."

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