DON'T WORRY, THEY WON'T ACTUALLY FIND ANYTHING WRONG...

The feds are examining the relationship between Big Pharma and hospitals. Well, duh.

For years, drug companies have given hospitals and their doctors thousands of dollars in educational grants -- money that pays for lunchtime lectures, expensive medical books, and conference speakers. Federal prosecutors are looking into whether drug companies have been using these grants, in some cases, to try to influence doctors at leading hospitals to prescribe their medications to patients, attorneys said.

If true, such behavior would be illegal under federal anti-kickback laws and may play a role in skyrocketing prescription drug costs.

While investigators have been probing drug marketing practices broadly in the medical profession, attorneys believe prosecutors are particularly interested in teaching hospitals because they are centers of influence that train the nation's future physicians.

The investigations, most led by the US attorney in Boston, come at a time when large hospitals already are adopting stricter rules about when to accept educational grants from drug makers, money that many department chiefs have embraced to supplement budgets. Massachusetts General Hospital's department of medicine last year barred companies from buying lunches for residents during noon lectures, while Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is considering establishing a committee to review educational grants, rather than allowing physicians to decide for themselves.

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