Don't Accept Gifts - Doctors' Group Draws Criticism for an Ad Effort

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http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/31/health/policy/31DOCS.html?pagewanted=3Dpri=

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AUG 31, 2001

Doctors' Group Draws Criticism for an Ad Effort

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

HICAGO, Aug. 30 =97 The American Medical Association is spending a large

amount of drug- company money to tell doctors not to accept large gifts

from drug companies, in a campaign that critics say smacks of hypocrisy.

The A.M.A. is contributing about $400,000 to the $1 million effort, but

most of the rest comes from payments of $50,000 to $100,000 from nine major

drug companies.

The medical association said it made sense to involve the industry in a

campaign that was also intended to inform drug makers about what is

considered unethical behavior. But critics questioned that logic.

" How can anyone believe that they're engaging in some kind of campaign to

fight the perception of unethical behavior by engaging in unethical

behavior? " said Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of the Public Citizen Health

Research Group, a consumer- oriented organization.=20

Some medical ethicists agreed.

" It's symbolically endorsing the very behavior that they're trying to

caution against, " said Dr. Lantos, associate director of the

University of Chicago's MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics.

At issue are the gifts, ranging from pens and note pads to dinners and

trips, that some drug makers shower on doctors. Ethicists say the gifts

could encourage doctors to prescribe medications that might not be in

patients' best interests.

A.M.A. policy suggests a limit of about $100 on such gifts and says they

should not include things like trips and hotel accommodations. Things like

pens and note pads are considered acceptable.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a trade group for

most of the nation's brand-name prescription drug makers, supports the

policy, but contends " it is entirely appropriate to educate physicians

about new treatments, " a spokeswoman, Jackie Cottrell, said.

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