Study says residents cloudy on AMA pharmaceutical gift policy

A new report shows that medical residents aren't well-versed on the AMA's guidelines for interacting with drug company representatives.

By Tanya Albert, AMNews staff. May 21, 2001.

The American Medical Association's guidelines about what gifts physicians should and should not accept from pharmaceutical companies are often called the Association's most ignored ethical opinion. A study released this month seems to confirm that.

About 42% of first- and second-year residents at the University of California, San Francisco, said it was OK for a company to pay for their travel to an educational conference, according to a study published May 1 in The American Journal of Medicine.

About 15% of the 105 residents surveyed said they didn't see a problem with accepting luggage from a drug representative.

Neither would be acceptable under AMA guidelines.

"Sadly, it wasn't particularly surprising," said Michael A. Steinman, MD, the study's lead author. "It confirms what we've seen anecdotally all along. ... This is deeply entrenched in medical culture."

Pharmaceutical industry representatives spend more than $5 billion annually -- or about $9,000 per practicing physician -- on visits to hospitals and physician offices. And they often offer social outings as a way to get more face time.

For example, in one recent marketing effort, Claritin manufacturers Schering-Plough included some physicians in ceremonies at major league ballparks to cast the first all-star ballot. Claritin is the official allergy medication of Major League Baseball.

William O'Donnell, a spokesman for Schering-Plough, said the promotion was educational because it sends a message to patients to go see their doctor if they are having any allergy problems. [...]