In This Issue:

- Is There a Problem? Let Us Count the Ways

- A Growing Awareness

- Getting Objective Information

- Recent Health Care News You Should Know About

- Excerpt from Navigating Through Medical Treatment Conflicts of Interest

Our collective minds continue to reel at the unsavory relationship of some doctors with pharmaceutical and medical device companies. But why should patients really care? And what can we do about it?

We all know that money talks, and Big Money -- i.e., Big Pharma and Big Device Manufacturers -- talks long and loud with the doctors who make key decisions about our health care.

Last month came news of yet more back-scratching between doctors and Big Pharma: At least 17 of Medicare's top 20 prescribers of the blood pressure drug Bystolic were paid by the manufacturer to promote it. They got $283,450 for the speeches and more than $20,000 in meals....