RE: Profit vs Care1 Dec 2023 11:02
Oil, you need to look at 'standard of care', a term that effectively means 'best practice'.
Pharma companies do not determine what treatment people receive and I don't know why you should think they might. It is the doctors who decide what treatment to give as they are the responsible people, and the ones who might face litigation if their choice of treatment goes against best practice and results in a bad outcome.
Pharma may try to influence doctors by sending reps to talk with them - typically about only one or two drugs that the company is promoting and/or for indications that the doctor has an interest or speciality in - and whatever the reps say has to be backed up by published literature of the peer reviewed type that the doctor can check up on and assess. This obviously brings the 'good' points of a drug to the doctor's attention (there is afterall a lot of medical literature coming at the doctor every day and some news and views may slip past unnoticed) and influences the doctor (as much by his/her opinion of the rep as by what the rep presents) but any prescribing decisions by the doctor are the responsibility of the doctor and, perhaps not unsuprisingly, they are greatly influenced by what others, especially 'opinion leaders' are prescribing and saying (herd safety).