Anaesthesia and the big money

[摘要] Anaesthesia is not one of the big spenders. Our various society meetings get less and less support from industry as the years go by. We watch our rheumatology and our cardiology colleagues jetting off to exotic places courtesy of Drugs Inc., while we ruefully make our way to Hull (no offence meant) by second-class rail. Of course, there are advantages: anaesthetists are unlikely to find themselves headline news for ignoring side effects in a sponsored study, something that has made unfortunate headlines in recent weeks. We just don't have that many drugs in anaesthesia. Unlike drugs for osteoarthritis and secondary prevention of heart attacks, it's obvious whether our drugs work pretty soon after they've been given. There's little point in the drug companies offering anything more than a little gentle persuasion because there isn't the market to make a shedload of ‘me-too’ drugs worthwhile.

[学科分类] 卫生学