About 650 million prescriptions are written each year by General Practitioners, which means the pharmaceutical industry is now the third most profitable in the UK, behind tourism and finance.
But the government officials warned it has come with a cost, with adverse drug reactions responsible for 5% of all hospital admissions.Drug firms have become increasingly focused on marketing and some GPs have been too easily influenced by promotions. The promotions to doctors and patients lead to the over-prescription of drugs, citing painkillers such as Cox-2 inhibitors, which have been linked to heart problems. Negative clinical trial results were being suppressed and there was a risk trials which produced positive results were not adequately designed.
A special health select committee recommends an overhaul of the regulatory system in a bid to keep the pharmaceutical industry in check.
Courtesy BBC News 4/5/2005
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