Students urged to reject industry gifts

Medical student organizations encourage future physicians to evaluate drug company information without the influence of marketing and promotions.

By Andis Robeznieks, AMNews staff. June 24, 2002.

Drug companies have a right to promote their products, medical student leaders say, but doctors need to guard against being influenced by marketing and independently check claims made by sales representatives.

A pharmaceutical industry group has released new guidelines limiting industry gifts to physicians. But the American Medical Student Assn. had already approved policies that prohibit drug industry advertising at AMSA functions and encourage students to reject any industry gift or promotional item.

"This initiative isn't so much to criticize the industry, but to get students to re-evaluate where they get information from," said AMSA President Jaya Agrawal, 25, a fourth-year Brown University med student.

AMA Medical Student Section President David Buck, MD, 26, offered a similar view. "Students need to be aware why drug representatives are there, and that is to increase sales," said the Sumner, Wash., native who begins his residency in orthopedics at the University of Nebraska July 1.

But he downplayed the influence low-value gifts may have. "I don't think a medical student is bought off by a sandwich," Dr. Buck said.

Agrawal, a Richmond, Ind., native leaning toward internal medicine, disagreed, and said even token gifts can lead to doctors developing a sense that they are entitled to industry gifts. Agrawal said she is seeing more people bringing lunches to drug company presentations, and many students are starting to put tape over the company's name on the pens they give away. "People ... don't want to be walking around looking like race car drivers with company logos all over them," she said. [...]