Patient safety or industry pay day?

摘要

I understand William Horsley's concerns about motives behind the call for brand prescribing(PJ,11 March,p293)but through the mist of this cynical world,I hope he can see that it is the patient that will benefit from such a recommendation.There is a price difference between some of the leading brands of strong opioids to others,but the cost of a serious error far outweighs this.In his letter,Mr Horsley implies that a call for branded prescribing by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's Practice Committee and those members who advise it,could be due to the influence of the larger pharmaceutical companies that manufacture the recognised brands of strong opioids.