Stanford says doctors can't receive drug firm gifts

SAN FRANCISCO - Stanford University will bar physicians working at its two hospitals from accepting even the tiniest gifts from drug industry sales representatives to try to eliminate corporate influence from medical decisions, the school announced Tuesday.

The policy takes effect Oct. 1 and also bans accepting gifts from other companies such as medical device makers that do business with the hospitals.

The policy also prohibits the doctors from accepting free drug samples and publishing articles in science journals that were ghost written by corporate authors.

The industry's sales force also would be prohibited from areas where patients are seen and from dropping in without appointments, a common sales tactic.

Even coffee mugs, pens and other trinkets doled out by drug companies can't be accepted anymore.

Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania have announced similar policies, and several other institutions are considering gift bans as they grapple with conflict of interest concerns and rising health care costs.

In January, an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association said current relations with pharmaceutical representatives created conflicts of interest and urged academic medical centers to take the lead in adopting reforms.

The article said the drug industry spends about $19 billion annually marketing to doctors.

"Gift giving creates a reciprocal obligation that is a powerful force, and pharmaceutical companies know this very well," said David Magnus, director of the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics who helped write the new policy. "So we're discouraging it from happening anywhere at the medical center."

The industry's trade group, the politically influential Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, blasted Stanford's new policy as draconian and argued that cutting down on doctors and sales representatives meetings would actually hamper health care.

"The sales representatives are typically very well trained and have quite a bit of information," said Scott Lassman, a lawyer for the trade group. "They are cutting doctors off from very useful information that they can use to help treat their patients."

Lassman said the trade group instituted its own gift policy in 2002 that prohibits lavish gift giving.

"Lavish, expensive meals, tickets to ball games and golf outings are really inappropriate," Lassman said. "But if I was concerned that my doctor was influenced by a pen or a slice of pizza, I would find another doctor."

Part of my career in nursing was as an office nurse. The most our doc ever received were drug samples, notepads, pens, etc. Once in awhile pizza or a fruit basket was brought in for the entire staff.

The samples were a blessing for our poorer patients. We immediately earmarked certain samples for those patients who we knew had limited resources. More than one person in our small town owes their health to those samples.

"Gift giving creates a reciprocal obligation that is a powerful force, and
pharmaceutical companies know this very well," said David Magnus,
director of the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics who helped write the new policy...

I bet there are plenty of Stanford MDs (e.g., proctologists)
that are just praying that David Magnus makes an appointment!

OK, I'm not saying the MDs would act on any unpleasant thoughts...

The samples were a blessing for our poorer patients.

I'm only peripheral to the medical field, but that's always been
my impression.

My only beef is with the out-of-country flow of those samples to other countries.
Like ones where the potentates have plenty of cash, but their people
simply have to pray some visiting MD from the USA will show up with
some of those samples.
(I don't want those folks to suffer...it's just that their guvmint
wants you and me to foot the bill back here in the USA while they
fill their bank accounts in Switzerland)

I agree with you that the samples have helped many people and I don't really have a problem with that. My only concern is the end cost of all the food these drug companies give to the doctors offices.

The doctor my wife works for now has never allowed any drug rep to even bring a bag a krispy kremes to the office but he does allow the free samples of drugs which he gives to patients who can't afford them.

I too am a nurse and never thought too much about the free pens ect. and free mexican and chinese. I also never thought too much about complaints of pharmaceutical companies controlling the medical community. HOWEVER....

Since my wife has developed late Lyme I've done a lot of research and now see how these companies control the medical research and even suppress other modalities and research for such.

For instance....a very good study found that hyperbaric therapy helped multiple sclerosis....and many late Lyme cases are misdiagnosed as MS....but that's another rant.

...and publishing articles in science journals that were ghost written by corporate authors.

They should be fired for that. Period. Publishing articles with their name when it is somebody else's work? That is obscene! How can it even be reviewed if nobody knows who really wrote it? What if somebody else wants to follow up on it with another line of research, and needs to ask a question of the author, only to find out that the author didn't do the research?

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.