Conflicts of interest between the drug industry and medicine left a breach in the firewall with research, education, clinical care vulnerable to bias, noted several witnesses at hearings of the Select Committee on Aging. Committee chair Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI) alternated between a warming smile and a somber look atop his glasses while witnesseses described the "exceptional growth" of prescription drugs. Sales topped $200 billion dollars in 2005, up from $40.3 billion five years earlier, said Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), the newest member of the committee and of Congress. Kohl and Franken are co-sponsors of the Physician Payment Sunshine Act (S. 301) requiring transparency between industry and medicine.
Psychiatry testifies
Dr. John Scully told how the APA wrestled with phasing out, now surviving the financial losses of industry-sponsored educational symposia. But this year's loss of $1.5 million was "well worth the cost" of restoring confidence, he said, adding that the public is right to scrutinize the profession. May's conference in San Francisco had 11 symposia compared to 46 three years ago. Psychiatrist Daniel Carlat, who has been an outspoken critic of industry practices, supplied written testimony.
Other testimony includes:
•Professor Eric Campbell, Institute for Health Policy, Harvard Medical School;
•Dr. Steven Nissen, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio;
A webcast of the hearing was posted on the committee webpage.
