Bills to ensure physicians can get unbiased information on prescription drugs were introduced in the Senate and House April 1.
The Independent Drug Education and Outreach Act of 2009 (S 767 and HR 1859 [http://thomas.loc.gov]) would offer grants to governments and such entities as medical schools and societies to produce educational materials for physicians on the safety, efficacy, and cost of prescription, generic, and over-the-counter drugs.
Other grants to such bodies as local and state governments or academic institutions would fund the dispatch of trained medical staff such as pharmacists and nurses into physician offices to distribute and discuss the independent information.
Sen Herb Kohl (D, Wis), chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging and cosponsor of the legislation, said in a release that this approach, known as academic detailing, is "an important alternative to the way doctors currently get their information about drugs—from the . . . [Full Text of this Article]
