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Sarah Nelson
Mr. Newman
English 101: Rhetoric
8 October 2014
Traditional doctors prescribe their patients all types of drugs to treat conditions and
diseases. Most people trust their physicians to give them the best care possible, but many doctors
prescribe and recommend medications based on their relationship with a company.
Pharmaceutical companies pay doctors or even provide meals, in exchange for meetings and
education. In an article from Time Magazine from September 18, 2014, Your Doctor Should
Reveal Biases and Pharma Ties, Says Group, author Alexandra Sifferlin explains the issue with
these relationships. Sifferlin uses ethos, logos, pathos, and links to respectable websites to
convince readers that patients should be made aware by their physicians of ties pharmaceutical
companies and their positions of controversial practices.
Ethos is very prominent in the article. Sifferlin does not use her own beliefs, but quotes
and ideas from a professional and studies. She uses information from Dr. Leana Wen of George
Washington University as the basis of the article. The author doesnt use a celebrity or somebody
else with little or no knowledge on the subject. The doctor she chose is not only an experienced
medical doctor, but also has completed research on the issue; Wen is also an advocate for doctors
releasing personal information and relationships. Wen launched Whos My Doctor, where
doctors are able to sign a Total Transparency Manifesto and disclose what outside funding they
recieve. In addition to using Dr. Wen, Sifferlin cites multiple studies, both from credible
sources, such as the New England Journal of Medicine Through using a reliable medical doctor
and sources, Sifferlin tries to establish herself as a reliable and trustworthy author.

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Another element of Sifferlins piece is the use of facts. The beginning of the article grabs
the readers attention and makes them want to learn more. It does this by giving astounding facts
about doctors: Studies have reported that around 94% of doctors have some sort of relationship
with pharmaceutical companies. The article goes on to reference another study about physicians
who have received reimbursement for travel, education, meetings, and enrolling patients in trials.
The facts severe the purpose to let readers know what is truly happening in the healthcare
industry. The audience is able to believe the facts because Sifferlin goes on to prove herself as a
valuable source.
The article uses the data and statistics to reach the readers emotions. The first sentence
the audience reads states that a large proportion of physicians have relationships with
pharmaceutical companies. The purpose of beginning with statistics and data is to create concern
in the audience about their own physicians hiding beliefs and information with them. Obscuring
their beliefs from patients, physicians interfere with providing the best possible care. The article
uses the vocabulary to show the reader the anguish Wen has and the audience should have. Wen
said if we are ashamed to tell our patients about our financial conflicts of interest then we
should question why we have them in the first place. This quotation proves to the readers that
some physicians are extremely concerned about this issue of hiding information. It leads the
audience to believe it is a pressing topic that they should worry about.
Sifferlin uses links to qualified websites to fully convince the audience. She used links to
the studies she wrote about. This proves to the readers that the data is not fake or does not come
from an inadequate source. Sifferlin references a database where patients are able to see if their
doctor has received compensation from drug companies. She includes a link to the ProPublica
website to show the reader just how many doctors havent told the truth about why they might

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prescribe certain medications. The author uses Dr. Wens website about relationships with
pharmaceutical companies to show that patients are not the only people who are concerned
about the issue, doctors worry too.
In Sifferlins article, she uses ethos, logos, pathos, and links to adequately prove that
physicians should reveal their beliefs. Ethos proves Sifferlin as a qualified author and a credible
source. Logos helps her back up her argument and pathos makes the audience concerned about
their own doctors. With the website links, Sifferlin is able to add more facts to the article and
prove her argument.

Work Cited
Sifferlin, Alexandra. Your Doctor Should Reveal Biases and Pharma Ties, Says Group. Time
Magazine 18 Sept. 2014: n. pag. Web. 8 Oct. 2014.