the issue of a physician prescribing or recommending supplements has ethical, financial, and other components
there are different ways a physician can prescribe or recommend supplements such as:
-over the counter supplements
physician advises a patient which ones would be beneficial, informing them which suppplements, in what amounts, and how often they should take them, and directing the patient that they can be obtained over the counter at the store
-compounded supplements
physician writes a prescription for the exact ingredients, strength, and dosage - and instructs the patient to fill the prescription at the pharmacy
-retail supplements
physician either sells the supplements directly from their office, or indirectly thru another party such as in Dr. Sievers practice
in the first 2 examples, the physician does not profit
in the last, they do
jmo
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/05/your-doctor-as-salesman/index.htm
"...a significant number of mainstream medical professionals are now vying for a share of the $26.7 billion-a-year U.S. supplement market. Indeed, industry analysts predict that health-care practitioners could be among the fastest-growing sales channels for supplements over the next decade."
