Dear drug reps,
I write you today as a primary care provider who — at the risk of giving you “the keys to the kingdom” — has advice for you.
First, I am not anti-pharma. I recognize the need that my patients and I have for new medications, and I believe that innovation in medicine can grow from free enterprise. But it’s rare that I walk away from an interaction with you …
They say you never forget your first “real” patient. Mine was a woman who didn’t need a pelvic exam, but who got one anyway.
Next door, minutes later, my second patient provided another personal first: a male genital and rectal exam, also, without need. Medical students like me begin training by practicing the basics on one another–listening to heart sounds, and looking into each other’s ears and eyes—but eventually, every clinician-in-training must lay …
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