y, the spokesman for the Royal College of General Practitioners, is reported in American press as saying that there is a "perceived or real risk of the pharmaceutical companies' interests taking precedence over the patients' interests.”

The conflict of interest perhaps cannot

It is an intricate situation... Most states or local administrations do not have enough funds to examine and monitor all those who need medical treatment, especially those suffering from chronic diseases like diabetes and asthma.

So what if a pharmaceutical company puts up the funds to have qualified nurses visit doctors' offices to review the charts of the patients and to assess their progress? Such nurses sometimes also provide much needed professional development training for the office staff as well.

The practice, generally referred to as “disease-management programs,” started in U.K. but is spreading to Ireland, Germany and Belgium as well. The French drug maker Sanofi-Aventis SA, for example, is funding programs in Britain to provide training materials and classes for the staff nurses working in doctors' offices. However, the company officially claims that no attempt is made to push any proprietary drugs.

Critics of the practice charge that such pharmaceutical company programs are nothing but a thinly veiled attempt to push the highly-prices pills that company manufactures. Dr. Jim Kennedy, the spokesman for the Royal College of General Practitioners, is reported in American press as saying that there is a "perceived or real risk of the pharmaceutical companies' interests taking precedence over the patients' interests.”

The conflict of interest perhaps cannot b

funds to have qualified nurses visit doctors' offices to review the charts of the patients and to assess their progress? Such nurses sometimes also provide much needed professional development training for the office staff as well.

The practice, generally referred to as “disease-management programs,” started in U.K. but is spreading to Ireland, Germany and Belgium as well. The French drug maker Sanofi-Aventis SA, for example, is funding programs in Britain to provide training materials and classes for the staff nurses working in doctors' offices. However, the company officially claims that no attempt is made to push any proprietary drugs.

Critics of the practice charge that such pharmaceutical company programs are nothing but a thinly veiled attempt to push the highly-prices pills that company manufactures. Dr. Jim Kennedy, the spokesman for the Royal College of General Practitioners, is reported in American press as saying that there is a "perceived or real risk of the pharmaceutical companies' interests taking precedence over the patients' interests.”

The conflict of interest perhaps cannot

ease-management programs,” started in U.K. but is spreading to Ireland, Germany and Belgium as well. The French drug maker Sanofi-Aventis SA, for example, is funding programs in Britain to provide training materials and classes for the staff nurses working in doctors' offices. However, the company officially claims that no attempt is made to push any proprietary drugs.

Critics of the practice charge that such pharmaceutical company programs are nothing but a thinly veiled attempt to push the highly-prices pills that company manufactures. Dr. Jim Kennedy, the spokesman for the Royal College of General Practitioners, is reported in American press as saying that there is a "perceived or real risk of the pharmaceutical companies' interests taking precedence over the patients' interests.”

The conflict of interest perhaps cannot

ver, the company officially claims that no attempt is made to push any proprietary drugs.

Critics of the practice charge that such pharmaceutical company programs are nothing but a thinly veiled attempt to push the highly-prices pills that company manufactures. Dr. Jim Kennedy, the spokesman for the Royal College of General Practitioners, is reported in American press as saying that there is a "perceived or real risk of the pharmaceutical companies' interests taking precedence over the patients' interests.”

The conflict of interest perhaps cannot

y, the spokesman for the Royal College of General Practitioners, is reported in American press as saying that there is a "perceived or real risk of the pharmaceutical companies' interests taking precedence over the patients' interests.”

The conflict of interest perhaps cannot be proven with 100% certainty but it's there and everyone knows it, the critics claim.

As proof, they point at what happened to Merck last year in Britain where such paid-nurse visits are wide spread. The Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority, a British watchdog group, has examined the complaint filed by a former Merck sales representative and decided that the program was indeed a “reward program” for those doctors prescribing “Cozaar,” a Merck product.

After being suspended for three months, Merck wrote a letter to all doctors involved and said it was taking the issue "very seriously," and that it "is working hard on corrective actions."

As the cost of health care continues to rise I think we'll see more such programs that make low-cost early-detection of chronic diseases possible while raising a perception of “conflict of interest” among its various practitioners.