The pharmaceutical industry implemented a voluntary ban on gifts to physicians, which began on January 1, 2009.  Enacted by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the ban prohibits pens, coffee mugs and other branded gifts.  The American Medical Student Association (AMSA) had called for a comprehensive ban on gifts and all marketing efforts to medical professionals since 2002, when it initiated the PharmFree campaign (www.pharmfree.org).  “Banning gifts from the drug companies is a good first step,” says Dr. Brian Hurley, AMSA’s national president. “There is no role for marketing masquerading as education when our patients’ lives are at stake.”

 

AMSA also calls for federal regulations to govern the pharmaceutical industry’s interactions with medical institutions.  Specifically, AMSA supports passage of the Physician Payment Sunshine Act (S.2029), which would require disclosure of payments to physicians by the pharmaceutical industry.

 

“Given that pharmaceutical companies have a fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders, and given that they are a business that must take profits into consideration, the pharmaceutical industry cannot be expected to self-regulate,” continues Hurley.  “Congress must fight to ensure the quality of medical education, which necessitates non-biased, evidence-based information about medications and medical devices.  This is the only way to produce a medical system that can provide quality, affordable patient care for everyone.”

 

AMSA’s PharmFree campaign encourages medical schools to develop policies that limit the access of pharmaceutical company representatives to campuses and hospitals and to prohibit medical students and physicians from accepting gifts of any kind from representatives.  In June 2008, AMSA released its PharmFree Scorecard (www.amsascorecard.org), a comprehensive ranking of conflict-of-interest policies across the country.

 

 

To clear up misapprehensions about the ethics of pharmaceutical reps, PhRMA updated its entire code (www.phrma.org). PhRMA’s Code on Interactions with Healthcare Professionals has this to say about gifts to doctors:

 

Providing items for healthcare professionals’ use that do not advance disease or treatment education — even if they are practice-related items of minimal value (such as pens, note pads, mugs and similar “reminder” items with company or product logos) — may foster misperceptions that company interactions with healthcare professionals are not based on informing them about medical and scientific issues. Such non-educational items should not be offered to healthcare professionals or members of their staff, even if they are accompanied by patient or physician educational materials.

 

Items intended for the personal benefit of healthcare professionals (such as floral arrangements, artwork, music CDs or tickets to a sporting event) likewise should not be offered. Payments in cash or cash equivalents (such as gift certificates) should not be offered to healthcare professionals either directly or indirectly, except as compensation for bona fide services. Cash or equivalent payments of any kind create a potential appearance of impropriety or conflict of interest.

 

The new Code helps mend the image of pharmaceutical reps everywhere.

By Michelle Simmons
Get Pharmaceutical Sales Jobs, Contributing Editor