Free latte for oncologists? Not without disclosure

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100607/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_cancer_asco_coffee;_ylt=As9SCRvuk5KhXRVkdn.21FPtiBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTMxZzRoamJxBGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMTAwNjA3L291a29lX3VrX2NhbmNlcl9hc2NvX2NvZmZlZQRwb3MDMTMEc2VjA3luX2FydGljbGVfc3VtbWFyeV9saXN0BHNsawNmcmVlbGF0dGV ^

[MollyKuehl]

New limits on free gifts to doctors have hit the ubiquitous free lattes and coffee seen at major medical meetings like the one here of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. The conference exhibit floor still features massive information booths from cancer drugmakers like Roche Holding AG, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co and Amgen Inc -- though the days of shopping bags laden with pricey goodies are long gone. Many drugmakers still offer coffee or candy with no strings attached, but Pfizer Inc requires doctors to swipe their registration cards and warns that physicians from Minnesota and Vermont are prohibited from imbibing. "This is getting to the point of absurdity ... Is this the way we are going to solve the issue of healthcare in this country?" said Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer at the American Cancer Society. Pfizer, which agreed last year to a $2.3 billion (1.6 billion pound) fine in a drug marketing case, also warns in a sign in front of the coffee machine that it may provide the names of coffee-drinking doctors to regulators. In March, Pfizer disclosed that it had paid $35 million to some 4,500 doctors and researchers for the last six months of 2009 for such services as speaking fees and work on clinical trials. The company is "committed to the principle of transparency," Pfizer spokesman Curtis Allen said in an emailed statement. "Any gift, even a cup of coffee, is posted on our Pfizer website for disclosure purposes and to provide complete clarity," he said. A couple of years ago, the exhibit floor would have been clogged with cancer specialists picking up personalized pens, novelty toys, or framed photographs with people dressed up as major body organs. [...]

[MollyKuehl]

So no free coffee for physicians under the insane Stark law (backed by McCain by the way) yet unlimited cash to politicians under various loopholes and illegalities.

[JDW11235]

Not to forget Saudi debit cards!

[JDW11235]

Errr, Pre-paid credit cards. Same difference though...

[Admin Moderator]

This ain’t activism.

[MollyKuehl]

[MollyKuehl]

I know it ain’t... just picked the wrong category! Let the beatings begin!

[Nick Danger]

What am I bid for this now-collectors-item Professional Rubber Duck that you will never see again?

[MollyKuehl]

How about a trade instead? :)

[Red Badger]

"This is getting to the point of absurdity...

Absurdity, thy name is Obama............

[headsonpikes]

So no free coffee for physicians ... yet unlimited cash to politicians under various loopholes and illegalities.

(Politician's Homeresque reverie) "mmmmmm...unlimited cash...mmmmmm (images of flocks of $100 bills with angel wings)

[sionnsar]

Paragraphs are our friends.

[A.A. Cunningham]

Yahoo

[Reeses]

In the pharmaceutical industry, the only thing left now the FDA doesn't regulate is who sleeps with who. To find photos of hot women, google “pharmaceutical sales rep”.