AMA launches education drive on drug industry gifts

Doctors and drug firm sales representatives are targets of an educational campaign intended to reduce excessive gifts to doctors that are considered unethical.

By Jay Greene, AMNews staff. Sept. 17, 2001.

Physician organizations across the country are receiving informational packages on an AMA-spearheaded educational campaign entitled "What you should know about gifts to physicians from industry."

More than 5,000 packets are hitting the mailboxes of groups ranging from county medical societies to specialty societies. Drug firms and device manufacturers also will disseminate the information to their representatives.

The physician educational campaign -- which includes brochures listing the ethical guidelines, sample advertisements and editorials for publication -- asks doctors to consider two important questions when a drug firm representative offers a gift. Does the gift directly benefit my patients? And, is the gift of minimal value?

"This issue is ripe for broad airing and discussion," said Alan Nelson, MD, chair of the gift campaign's working group. "The public is concerned with the cost of medication and the cost that goes into marketing. This [campaign] won't be flattering to the medical profession, but it is important for us to have on record that we are doing something about it."

As drug companies step up gift giving, Dr. Nelson said, many doctors are unaware of the AMA's 10-year-old ethical guidelines on gifts. Last year, drug firms spent nearly $5 billion, or 33% of all promotional expenses, to market their products at physician offices, said IMS Health, a Westport, Conn.-based market research firm. [...]