Beware of Dr.

By Christine Gorman

Is your doctor's medical judgment swayed by the freebies handed out by drug companies? Yes--and the problem is much worse than you realize, according to Dr. Jerome Kassirer, former editor in chief of the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine. In his latest book, On the Take: How Medicine's Complicity with Big Business Can Endanger Your Health, he argues that so many medical experts accept money from pharmaceutical firms, it is nearly impossible at times to determine when advice is truly independent. Kassirer lays out the extent of the largesse--all of it legal--that drug companies lavish on doctors, from ski vacations to thousands of dollars in consulting fees in return for little or no true consulting. He believes that disclosing conflicts of interest is not enough. "Even if you find out what the conflicts are, you don't know how to interpret them," he says. As for the author, "the only conflict I have is that I have a book I'd like to see published and bought." At least he's up-front about it.--By Christine Gorman