On 24 April I wrote, quoting Bill Scott first:

> On April 22 Bill Scott wrote:
> 
> > Dr. Kramer is a well known advocate of polypharmacy, the giving of multiple
> > drugs to alleviate disorders when single drugs have not been effective. I
> > have not looked up his connections to the drug companies but I am sure he is
> > well funded by them. His disclaimer as to funding relates only to this
> > particular message within which he reports no specific results of research.
> > I invite anyone to inform me if I am wrong.
> 
> Maybe I�m missing something, but if Bill has not looked up Dr Thomas
> Kramer�s connections to any drug companies, on what grounds can he be
> �sure� that Kramer is well funded by them?

Bill Scott replied:

> I apologize for "being sure". I strongly suspect. I should look for the
> evidence before being sure. Perhaps, if I can find the time, I will do so
> and report back. Thanks for the correction.
> 
> Bill Scott

I�ve checked out a number of articles by Thomas A. M. Kramer, who is
Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Northwestern University,
Chicago. A message he posted on the AAMC REPORTER website may be of
interest:

Association of American Medical Colleges REPORTER
http://www.aamc.org/newsroom/reporter/july01/respond.htm

Q. Should there be systems in place to educate students and residents on
appropriate interactions with pharmaceuticals? If so, what should they be?

I think such education would be very helpful to medical trainees. It
should put these companies marketing efforts in context: how much money is
at stake, what their options are (i.e., what they can and cannot say or
do), and what they hope to accomplish. Pharmaceutical representatives
often encourage physicians and trainees to think of their companies as
benevolent "foundations," and they are anything but. This must be made
clear early in medical education.

Thomas A.M. Kramer, M.D. 
Senior Vice President
American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology Inc.

See also:
Practitioners and the Pharmaceutical Industry
http://consultapsi.com/noticias/medicos_laborat.htm

Allen Esterson
Former lecturer, Science Department
Southwark College, London
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

http://www.human-nature.com/esterson/index.html
http://www.butterfliesandwheels.com/articleprint.php?num=10

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