Meer aandacht nodig voor beïnvloeding door de farmaciebranche

The financial interests of large pharmaceutical companies in particular are large. Massive use of marketing resources for the introduction of new medicines contributes to the required high turnover, but is often at odds with their actual value. Programs such as MedicineBalance with objective drug information cannot prevent influencing the human mind with unconscious cognitive biases. Some principles are discussed in this article. The reader is urged to avoid marketing communications and calls for more academic direction and less dependence on the industry.

Conflict of interest and financial support: The author has received funding from the reimbursement for the MedicijnBalans program given by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport in The Netherlands. An ICMJE form provided by the author is available online along with the full text of this article.