Has the ban on doctors accepting drug company gifts gone too far?

Select states have taken a hard line against doctors accepting any type of gifts from drug companies.

And that includes food of any kind, which makes for some awkward moments at national physician conventions.

So, during this week’s ACEP Scientific Assembly in Boston, WhiteCoat snapped a picture of this notice, which borders on farcical:

Has the ban on doctors accepting drug company gifts gone too far?

I’ve heard similar stories from other national meetings, where, for instance, doctors from Massachusetts are barred from attending dinner CME lectures or other educational activities. Driver licenses are indeed checked.

I understand the crackdown on accepting drug company gifts, but I wonder if there’s any resentment from these doctors for being blatantly singled out.

Comments

http://www.drjshousecalls.blogspot.com Dr. Mary Johnson
It’s gotten stupid.
Anon MD
Welcome to health care in the Peoples Republic of Massachusetts, Minnesota, etc.
http://www.BookstoreMD.com BookstoreMD
Why politicians can take millions of dollars as gifts , go around in private planes with lobbyists, wine and dine at expensive restaurants. And yet doctors cannot even get $5 lunch so they can get back into the conference conveniently.
http://febrifuge.blogspot.com Febrifuge, PA-C
Aha, but here’s what they didn’t count on: I’m also a patient. And Amgen/ Wyeth earned my admiration and respect when they came through with assistance to keep me on (the ludicrously expensive biologic drug) Enbrel during a period when I was woefully under-insured. No golf trip could have made me love them more. At this point, a bagel with cream cheese is not going to change anything.
http://twitter.com/MarianCutler mariancutler
While promotion and interaction have never really been about the pen or the dinner, both serve as an introduction or a handshake. They help open dialogues, drive discussions and foster engagement between physicians and their staff with pharmaceutical and biotech companies.
Ferreting out such natural business tactics — employed by every single industry in the world — seems to be about chest pounding more than righting a perceived wrong. But, politicians get to claim success because the bans have traction.
Wonder what these same politicians will think when medical knowledge starts dropping (promotion helps keep healthcare professionals abreast of new data, changes in the landscape); advances in medicine start suffering from lack of adoption (promotion increases awareness of new medicines and devices allowing access to experts in mini forums to train staff); and overall outcomes flat line (it’s awfully hard to be at the forefront of medical advances if the only training provided is at the single medical meeting you attend annually, in a dark room with 1000 other doctors all clamoring for the same individual attention) who will be blamed then?
Has the ban gone too far? That would imply this is a recently set level. The ban went too far a good dozen years back.
http://twitter.com/MarianCutler
http://www.MDWhistleblower.blogspot.com Michael Kirsch, M.D.
Another example of OperationOVERKILL. Would the physicians at the Boston Conference be prohibited from smelling the drug company’s vittles? Shouldn’t the ban affect olfactory, as well as gustatory pleasure? An aroma can corrupt even the most ethical of physicians. I intend to wear nose clips at my next medical conference to keep me from sliding into dishonor and disrepute.
ninguem
They deserve to be singled out. The people who gave us Ted Kennedy, Barney Frank, Al Franken…….they made their bed, lie in it. We shouldn’t have to suffer for their choices.
Doc99
Doctors are like sheep … they make a lot of noise but no real resistance. If doctors had any backbone, the AMA would have said to Congress, “You First!” Doctors keep settling for a seat at the table, only to find out they’re the main course.
http://www.mexicomedstudent.com/ enrico
It says “refrain.” That sounds like plenty of wiggle room to me.
er doctor
i think the problem with that sign is that it’s missing 47 other states. pharmaceutical companies should not try to influence physician prescribing habits. biotech should not be in charge of continuing medical education for physicians.
the same applies to government.
David Deitsch, RN
Brilliant! I feel so safe and protected now from those big, bad, evil companies that have the (dare I use the word) audacity to sell products that keep people alive. The swine!
As for the sign, it reminded me of a sign that I once saw displayed (no doubt in obediance to state law) over a counter of fresh sushi. It read, “Warning! These products may contain raw fish!”
Yes, it feels so go to be protected like this. I think I’ll have a cookie and a nap now.
http://novatvmedia.com/retropinups Ezrad Lionel
I know that everyone here understands the difference between bribes and a complimentary lunch. Please do not use the same slippery slope that spawned this disclaimer in your contributions to the topic.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/achievementstrategies Marie
I starting to think the entire country is going insane.
Misdirected hysteria about health care reform.
Misdirected bans on ‘perks’ for physicians (like overdone chicken and cold string beans at a hotel conference is really going to corrupt someone!)
And then there is [shudder] Fox “News” with it’s rabid fear mongering.
Where are the voices of moderation and reason?
http://www.MDWhistleblower.blogspot.com Michael Kirsch, M.D.
Marie, the answer to your inquiry at the end of your post is the blogs, of course!
http://www.linkedin.com/in/achievementstrategies Marie
(Slapping my forehead) But of course, Dr. Kirsch!!! That IS where we are.
Tis a pity we are not in charge.

P.S. My comment above is supposed to read “I’m” not “I” at the beginning. See, this subject has me so upset I am losing language. lol
Jennifer
It’s not the food nor the post-it notes, it’s the constant reminders of the presence of product endorsements that upset consumers. If the companies gave out plain yellow post-its or nice pens with a shiny finish, it wouldn’t be an issue. It’s the “Viagra,” “Cymbalta,” “Lorestrogen” branded products that don’t save lives but merely serve to brand themselves into your consciousness as you prescribe those brands to your patients.
I am grateful for better living through chemistry and the pharmaceutical companies that provide me with such useful concoctions. I pay a lot for their products, but I’d rather my doctor consider all alternatives before writing a new prescription.
It makes me suspicious that a physician might treat me with something that is familiar or well-marketed rather than what is most appropriate from a range of useful medications. Patients want their physicians to be well-informed. Eat the tuna sandwich. Take the brochures. But get your own pens and post-it notes.
j.
Jennifer, you do seem to do all physicians a real disservice when you suggest that their training and expertise would not drive their prescription writing, but rather that they would stoop so low as to write the scripts just because that drug company happened to give him something to eat, a pen or a sticky note with thier drug name on it. Believe it or not your physician is reading what third party non-biased research is saying about what is best medicine, also taking into account that oatient’s individual’s intolerance to certain classes of medication, and interaction with their other medications. You are not talking about high school graduates who are easily swayed by popular opinion or flashy gifts.
Question: Do you feel the same about the lawyer who won a frivolous malpractice lawsuit who is flying around in his private jet, purchasing second and third homes, and running for president of the USA? (John Edwards). What about your health insurance company’s CEO who gets a billion dollars worth of stock options in his company???
They are just “good businessmen” right? They would not have any bias as to what their idea of “good medicine” should be, right? (dripping wtih sarcasm).
When you are 80 years old and have no Primary Care physician to look out for drug interactions, or monitor what all the prescriptions and tests the specialists are ordering, then just remember that because of the restrictions put on the AAFP (American Academy of Family Physicians) at Boston this year it pulled out over 40 million dollars of support for that conference and it hurt their ability to serve their community of Family Physicians and because of restrictions such as these our brightest and best college students are going into less complicated fields,…..such as becoming a lawyer, or a politician…which are exempt from such restrictions.

Has the ban on doctors accepting drug company gifts gone too far?

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