White Coat Black Hat chapter 3-4
1. If there have been drug representatives visiting and attempting to influence doctors for a long time, and if many doctors may find them useful, what does Carl Elliott give as reasons for thinking this is a problematic relationship?
2. Elliott asks the following question: “in a market-based medical system, are reps really so different from doctors” (p. 53)? What are his reasons for asking this question? How does chapter 4 play into this question? What do you think about his suggestion that doctors are becoming more like drug reps?
3. What is some of the evidence that Elliott offers for the claim that receiving benefits from drug companies has an effect on doctors’ behavior, even if they do not think that it does?
4. What does Elliott mean when he considers whether “we still need doctors” (70) and “whether the traditional doctor is worth preserving in the face of modern economics” (71)?
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