Did April Fool’s come late this year? What other reason could there be for the op ed page of the Boston Globe to publish this patently absurd article on the merits of pharmaceutical companies providing education about drugs to physicians. Look, I am willing to concede that worries about conflicts of interest have in many ways gotten a bit out of hand but, touting big Pharma as an objective source of information on drug use for docs strains credulity well beyond the breaking point. This op ed made me laugh so hard it gave me headache. I wonder which bubbly, attentive, cute, exquisitely coifed and attired one-year-ago-cheerleader-music-major-now drug rep I should have over to my house to lecture me on the physiology of blood flow and nerve structure in the brain as well as the biochemistry of the available nostrums to fix them?
-Art Caplan