Americans want to know whether their doctors are pocketing payments or accepting gifts from drug companies, but they don't necessarily want to come right out and ask them, a new poll finds.

More than half of the people responding to a national survey by the Boston-based Prescription Project thought it was important to know about their doctors’ relationships with drug companies, but only about a third said they would ask their own physicians about it. The Prescription Project is a conflict-of-interest watchdog group funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Half of Americans think doctors are influenced by pharmaceutical companies when they pull out the prescription pad (or PDA) and two-thirds would back laws requiring drug makers to make public the payments or gifts they give to doctors, the survey said.

More than two-thirds also said they would favor legislation to support sending academic experts out to doctors' offices to offer information on new drugs. These counter-detailers would balance the message from drug company sales reps, called detailers, the thinking goes.

Massachusetts is considering a ban on gifts to doctors from the drug and medical device industries.

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