Objective: There is enormous information flow via the Internet and papers.  Physicians require appropriate drug information from medical representatives (MRs), so fair promotion activities of MRs are necessary.  To clarify the activity and visiting aims of MRs, we investigated the visiting records for MRs.
Methods: We improved the visiting record form because there were some gaps in the records.  Subsequently, we investigated the validity of the records.  The correlations between visiting numbers of MRs and both purchase prices of our hospital and scale of drug companies were also investigated.  Two months after revision of the visiting records, a questionnaire survey was administered among MRs to determine their thoughts about promotion activities.
Results: The visiting numbers of MRs and companies did not change with revision of the visiting record.  Insufficient visiting records were significantly reduced from 5.1% to 0.8%.  There were no correlations between visiting numbers and purchase prices or scale of drug companies.  Meanwhile, sub-analysis of the visiting data indicated that MRs significantly promoted new drugs and drugs coming off patent.  The revision of visiting record format re-emphasized the importance of the visiting record on MRs.
Discussion: Almost all MRs promoted their products fairly, as there was no correlation between the purchase price and company scale.  However, they may actively promote new drugs and those with patents that have elapsed.  The visiting records are useful to determine the promotion activities of MRs.

Objective: To investigate the laxative effect of reducing the number of daily doses of magnesium oxide (MgO), while maintaining the total daily dose of MgO in patients with good bowel movements.Patients and Methods: The retrospective analysis involved 11 patients with regular bowel movements who were prescribed MgO for constipation upon admission to a nursing care facility accompanied by home visits by a pharmacist. This investigation was conducted before and after reducing the number of daily doses from three to two, or from two to one, over a two-week period.Results: The number of bowel movements was 7.6 ± 3.4 and 6.6 ± 4.0 times for two weeks before and after the change in dosage frequency, respectively. The difference was not statistically significant (P=0.09). The Bristol Stool Form Scale was 3.9 ± 0.9 and 4.0 ± 0.9 two weeks before and after the change, respectively, which was not significant (P=0.93). Two weeks after the change, the MgO regimen remained unchanged and no on-demand laxatives were administered.Conclusions: The results suggest that reducing the number of daily doses of MgO does not affect its laxative action.