As Doctors Say Free Stuff from Pharma Might be Influential, Some Schools Step In
In January we reported advocacy from the Journal of the American Medical Association and others against free samples and goodies offered by pharmaceutical manufacturers to doctors. After debating their policy on this issue for more than a year, the Stanford School of Medicine decided last month to “prohibit physicians from accepting industry gifts of any size, including drug samples, anywhere on the medical center campus or at off-site clinical facilities where they may practice.” It also bans pharmaceutical, bio-device and related industry representatives from patient care areas and medical school facilities except for in-service training on devices and equipment and by appointment only. The Stanford Industry Interactions Policy took effect on October 1st.
Philip Pizzo, dean of the school for the last five years, was quoted in the Stanford daily as saying: “The very fact that the pharmaceutical industry spends over $20 billion per annum on such gifts and meals, most targeted at doctors, is evidence that this marketing strategy must be working.” According to the Sacramento Bee, UC Davis is considering the implementation of a similar policy. The Journal of Medical Ethics recently published the results of a questionnaire sent in March 2003 to 397 members of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Of the 55 percent who responded, most thought it proper to accept drug samples (92%), an informational lunch (77%), an anatomical model (75%) or a well-paid consultantship (53%) from pharmaceutical representatives. However, a third of the respondents thought that their own decision to prescribe a drug would probably be influenced by accepting drug samples and roughly the same proportion agreed that such interactions with the industry should be more strictly regulated.
October 6, 2006 Related topics: Ethics & Scandals, Pharmaceuticals