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How family doctors can be misled by drug companies

How family doctors can be misled by drug companies. An example concerning antibiotic therapy for Upper Respiratory Tract Infections. Dr. Guido Giustetto. Florence (ITALY) 27 - 30 August 2006. The booklet “Use the best first”. Italian family doctors received the revolutionary news:

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How family doctors can be misled by drug companies

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  1. How family doctors can be misled by drug companies An example concerning antibiotic therapy for Upper Respiratory Tract Infections Dr. Guido Giustetto Florence (ITALY) 27 - 30 August 2006

  2. The booklet “Use the best first” Italian family doctors received the revolutionary news: a workshop at The Istituto Superiore di Sanità states that for upper respiratory tract infections • to be effective • to avoid antimicrobial resistence it is necessary to use, from the very beginning, a powerful wide spectrum antibiotic like moxifloxacin.

  3. What does literature say ? • Literature doesn’t support these theses • On the contrary, it advises us to: • Use less antibiotics (the CDC estimates that antibiotic prescribing would be reduced by more than 40%) • Wait before starting therapy • Choose a narrow-spectrum antibiotic, if antibiotic is necessary • Save the new antibiotics for severe conditions

  4. What the “real” objective ? • To widen the use of moxifloxacin from labelled indications (sinusitis only) to any upper respiratory tract infection • To increase the drug sales

  5. 3 communication tecnique tricks • I Data manipulation • II Recourse to a third party • III Use of a trademark

  6. Communication trick No. 1 To distort the picture with: • a mixture of correct information and • over-alarming statements • misleading references to tables in the text • deliberately truncated quotations • evocative and allusive words

  7. Communication trick No. 2 • Recourse to a third party to make the statements more credible and reliable. 40 specialists Paul Erlich (deceased in 1915) Istituto Superiore di Sanità

  8. Communication trick No. 3 The logotype has been invented: USE THE BEST FIRST this iconic element strengthens the verbal aspect in favour of a long lasting memorization of the message

  9. Conclusion This booklet • is not a scientific instrument • is a misleading promotion pubblication • attempts to interfere with the doctors’ independent and appropriate therapeutic choice • goes against the patients’ best interest

  10. Conclusion In this booklet marketing comes before science

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