Drug Companies Influence of Medical Education

In Chapter 13, How to Save the Pharmaceutical Industry - And Get Our Money's Worth, Angell proposed 7 reforms to "restore the industry to its purpose and make prescription drugs not only more affordable but better and safer". Particularly, I am interested in the 5th point, "Drug companies have too much influence over medical education about their own products (Ch. 8)". This topic interests me on a personal level because of my mother. About 7 years ago, my mother was diagnosed with lupus. The doctor had my mother start taking roughly 20 pills a day (140 pills a week), including steroids (sometimes it varied on milligrams). She gained a lot of weight, was in constant pain, sporadic numbness/pins and needle sensations, and did not receive optimal treatment when she would go see the doctor. My mothers pain sometimes reached unbearable levels to which she couldn't even get up in the morning. Most of the time when my mom went to see her doctor (let's say her name was Dr. X) and complained about the pain, rather than Dr. X changing her drug regimen, she would just prescribe my mother additional drugs to stop the effects of another; a vicious cycle. My grandmother (mother's mother) was constantly worrying about my mother and suggested she see a doctor (let's call him Dr. Y) in Guatemala (our place of birth). I think about 2 years ago was her first time seeing Dr. Y. She showed him her medical records and he ran new blood tests. The results came in; my mother never had lupus, however, she does have rheumatoid arthritis.  He took immediate action to remove her from the pills without abruptly stopping her regimen. Once she was completely done with her prior medication, he started her with new pills and now she takes about 54 a week plus a shot she has to have every 3 months. My mother, without notice, stopped seeing Dr. X, and to this day, she has never had a call from her asking her why she left or how she is doing. I think this story ties into the 5th point made by Angell because Dr. X had ties with pharmaceutical companies that influenced how she practiced.