Fewer than half of physicians think they should refuse gifts from drug companies, a new Medscape survey on medical ethics has found. Tallying up responses from more than 10,000 physicians, Medscape also found the physicians sharply divided on such issues as physician-assisted suicide and life support. One of the most controversial of the 21 questions on the survey was, “Would you agree that you should refuse gifts or perks from pharmaceutical companies because they may influence your medical judgment?” Almost 47% agreed and 37% disagreed, with the remaining 16% responding, “It depends.” Physician-assisted suicide split the respondents even more sharply, with almost 46% in favor, 41% against, and the rest uncommitted. When asked “Would you ever recommend or give life-sustaining therapy when you judged that it was futile?” the respondents also divided fairly evenly, with almost 24% marking “Yes,” 37% marking “No,” and 39% indicating “It depends.” Among the other results:
· 61% said it was not acceptable to perform a procedure merely to reduce the risk for a lawsuit; 16% said it was.
· 60% said it was not acceptable to hide a harmless mistake; 19% said it was acceptable.
· 58% would never prescribe a placebo just because a patient wanted treatment; 24% would.
· 73% said it is never acceptable to falsify a patient’s condition when submitting claims while 17% said falsification is acceptable “to get a patient the services.”
