So I recently started a new job working at FP. I'm still in the process of building my patient base, but in the last week or so I've had several new patients who have undergone treatment from the same previous PCP, and they all have similar complaints about their previous PCP. In fact, he started selling supplements from his office and "prescribing" these supplements to patients - he doesn't seem to be making outlandish claims about cancer treatment or anything else. Patients doubted whether they needed these products, and also found them expensive - and, of course, they are not covered by insurance. As a result, they transferred their care to others.

My question is: do you think this is a conflict of interest?

I'm just curious about the general opinion that the practice seems to be becoming more common - in my experience, it's almost universally used in dermatology for skin care products, etc., but it seems to be spreading to other areas of medicine. I appreciated the new patients who helped me build my "business", but so far they have all been relatively well-educated people who are looking for help rather than telling me what they want...the type of patient we all dream of! I am not one of those who believe that vitamins are necessary for the general population, and I am aware of studies showing that regular vitamin supplements are actually potentially harmful... but there may be exceptions. And, although glucosamine/chondroitin ended up being pretty useless, as I understand it...I'm probably a jerk who fell victim to the placebo effect, but I feel that taking it helps my joints - for a long time I was an athlete in college and continued to do powerlifting and coaching wrestling.