Another reasonable voice

Scott Lassman, senior assistant general counsel for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, sounded off in the Boston Globe this past Friday:

The information exchange also goes both ways. Doctors learn firsthand the trends in medicine safety before anyone else in the medical community. It's the kind of experiential knowledge that can't be taught in the university or even learned in a lab, and they share their experiences with a given medicine with these representatives.

This debate is really about trust. The industry values the relationship its representatives have built with the nation's healthcare professionals, and it is critical to the mission of helping patients that these interactions be maintained at the highest ethical standards. Just as patients trust their physician, it is equally important that physicians trust their pharmaceutical representatives.

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