I think this is a really BIG issue and is, indeed, realted to this forum because many here got into their problems because many physicians know only what they are told by the drug companies (which is often far from the whole story). Part of the drug companies' control over what gets to doctors is their manipulation of research articles and medical journals.
As it happens, the husband of a friend of my wife is an editor (there are ten or so) of the Journal of the American Medical Association, one of the biggies. In a long, very interesting conversation I had with him he said one of his main jobs was to try and determine if articles submitted to the journal were true. According to him, much of what is published has been "laundered" by the drug companies, ghost writing is common, and put simply we aren't totally sure that what does get published with regard to drugs is true. Thus, if all a doctor reads is what the drug rep. provides or what is published in the journals he is likely to often be less educated than he should be (and we expect).
I'm glad you noted this.
John
