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[One year's written drug information to a general practitioner]
1RELIS Midt-Norge, Avdeling for legemidler, Regionsykehuset i Trondheim, 7006 Trondheim.
Background:
It is a general impression that by far the greater part of drug information to general practitioners is provided by drug manufacturers rather than by independent sources. However, the extent of such information has not previously been quantified in Norway.
Material And Methods:
All written drug information received by a general practitioner in 1999 was registered.
Results:
A total of 5,669 pages of drug information were received. Of these, 5,115 pages (90.2%) came from drug manufacturers. On average, 12 pages with drug advertisements and information on six different pharmaceutical products were received every day.
Interpretation:
This study verifies that a very high proportion of the drug information to a general practitioner is provided by the pharmaceutical industry.