Informing physicians about promising new treatments for severe illnesses
R. Steinbrook and B. Lo
Los Angeles Times, Calif.
Physicians are increasingly informed of promising new treatments for severe
illnesses through unconventional communications such as press releases,
press conferences, and direct mailings. These highly publicized
announcements disseminate information quickly, often many months before new
data are presented at medical meetings or published in peer-reviewed
medical journals. Such unconventional communications, however, usually do
not provide sufficient detail for physicians to evaluate new studies,
answer patients' questions, or make recommendations. We suggest that
physicians would be better informed about therapeutic advances through (1)
expanded information in unconventional communications, (2) increased
availability of information from the Food and Drug Administration, (3)
early submission and accelerated review of key medical journal articles,
and (4) expanded use of on-line computerized information sources. A
commitment to inform physicians better about promising new treatments may
help save or prolong the lives of patients with severe illnesses.
