MD REPORTS

MD REPORTS

It’s never just a sandwich

From clinical trials and medical prescribing to regulators and politicians, pharmaceutical influence runs through every level of medicine. The corruption is systemic.

Maryanne Demasi, PhD's avatar
Maryanne Demasi, PhD
Nov 12, 2026

Doctors often insist they cannot be influenced by something as trivial as a free lunch from a pharmaceutical sales rep.

‘It’s just a sandwich,’ they say. What harm could it do?

Well, a new Cochrane review examining 93 studies suggests these small gestures can have quite an impact on prescribing.

Of the estimates looking specifically at gifts and payments, …

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