PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Can marketing influence how providers practice medicine?
A new report in the British Medical Journal details how it happened in the past. Back in the 1980s, powerful opioid painkillers were used almost exclusively for severe cancer pain.
While excellent at relieving pain, they were known to be highly addictive. A review of more than 1 million internal documents from one company detailed a marketing plan to influence doctors to choose these drugs over traditional methods, like anti-inflammatory medications, muscle relaxants and physical therapy.
Marketing was developed to downplay addiction. Today, there are safeguards in place, but the impact of wider use has been devastating.
Get more medical reports from Dr. Brian McDonough.
KYW Newsradio's Medical Reports are sponsored by Independence Blue Cross.
