Healthy Skepticism Library item: 15033
Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.
 
Publication type: Journal Article
Steinbrook R.
Physician–Industry Relations — Will Fewer Gifts Make a Difference?
The New England Journal of Medicine 2009 Feb 5; 360:557-559:(6):
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/360/6/557?query=TOC
Abstract:
The most common industry payments to physicians have taken the form of gifts, such as meals, tickets to sporting or cultural events, and pens, mugs, and other tchotchkes that prominently feature the names of companies or their products.1
Although some physicians decline gifts from industry, meals and other goodies are an important component of the approximately $7 billion that drug companies spend annually on promotion to medical professionals in the United States. Billions more are spent in the provision of free samples and direct-to-consumer advertising. The gifts, however, are not really “free.” Even small gifts can influence physicians’ behavior; they . . .