My wife is a nurse and worked for several years for a group of doctors in our small town. She was told when she was hired that she wouldn't ever have to worry about lunch. Sure enough everyday a caterer would bring a huge spread of food that was paid for by a different drug company and it was for the doctors, their nurses and the receptionists. These catered meals must have cost several hundred dollars per day at least.
I wonder if my blood pressure medicine would cost less than 130 dollars per month if the drug company that makes them didn't participate in this scheme. It may seem piddly to some people but on a national scale they must spend billions of dollars every year which they add to the cost of the medicine that we HAVE to buy. I am against more laws by the government but this is one thing that should be stopped.
I've had the same thoughts. Catered lunch every day for 50 people plus pens, notepads, blackberry cases, calendars, notebooks, etc, etc. You know the cost for this is passed along to the consumer.
Oh and pharm companies contribute to graduation, christmas and other parties throughout the year as well.
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.