We have written before about Stanford banning even small gifts from pharma reps, the influence gifts have, and the JAMA article and recommendations on inappropriate gifts.
Now the LA Times has a piece by a family physician in Seattle talking about accepting the lunches and baseball tickets and other gifts from the drug reps. Interestingly, it’s not necessarily a flattering piece, and highlights many of the issues that have been raised about the bias that these gifts create. But it also offers if not a sympathetic explanation of why a doctor would accept the gifts, an explanation that I’m sure many of us can relate to, even if we don’t approve.
-Kelly Hills [hat tip to Birgitta Sujdak-Mackiewicz!]