Doctors moving to limit gifts from drug firms

By David Kohn | Sun reporter

May 20, 2008

"The data show that we are being influenced, even by small gifts," says Dr. Barry Meisenberg of the University of Maryland Medical School, who believes such gifts cloud medical judgment. (Sun photo by Chiaki Kawajiri / May 14, 2008)

When Dr. Barry Meisenberg attends lunchtime medical talks at the University of Maryland Medical Center, he usually doesn't eat - not even a carrot or a potato chip.

He abstains to avoid what he sees as a conflict of interest.

The talks are often sponsored by pharmaceutical and medical device companies, which supply the food, too. Meisenberg, a hematology professor at the medical school, decided a decade ago that taking gifts or money - including food, travel expenses and payments for speeches and research - could cloud his judgment about how to treat patients.

"I wanted to be free of any concerns about my reputation," he said. "The data show that we are being influenced, even by small gifts."

Meisenberg is among a growing number of doctors and researchers who have decided to stop taking money and gifts from medical companies.

Perhaps more importantly, medical institutions and professional organizations are taking similar steps - creating rules and guidelines for employees and members. At the same time, several members of Congress are developing legislation that would focus more attention on relationships between doctors and drug and device makers.

"The climate is changing," said Dr. Peter Libby, chief of cardiology at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. "I think these limits will become more and more common in the future."

Libby decided to stop taking money from medical companies four months ago, after he was criticized for working on a documentary funded largely by pharmaceutical companies. Although the money had no effect on his judgment, he said, he realized that he had created the appearance of a conflict of interest.

"My credibility, and the perception of my integrity, are worth more than the bucks," he said.

And those bucks are enormous. Every year, the pharmaceutical industry spends more than $20 billion in the United States on promotional activities - continuing education programs for doctors, conferences, speeches, meals, gifts and other inducements to use a particular medicine or product.

"The bottom line is that relationships with industry are ubiquitous and are found in all aspects of medicine and research today," said Eric Campbell, an associate professor of health care policy at Harvard University.

Over the past decade, he's conduced six studies of the issue, all of which found high levels of doctor-industry linkage. The most recent research, involving 3,000 doctors, found that more than 90 percent had accepted gifts or payments.

Dr. Thomas Stossel is part of that 90 percent. The Harvard Medical School hematologist says he has no problem eating free meals or accepting fees for speeches or research. Like most doctors, he says the relationships have no effect on his ability to deliver good, objective care.

"Show me the evidence that we have a real, practical problem here," he said. "This is grossly overblown."

Even so, after four decades in practice, Stossel predicts that gifts and payments will soon be more tightly regulated.

"I'm not going to fight it," he said.

The pharmaceutical industry says it is open to proposals for change but contends that, in general, the current arrangement does not pose ethical problems.

"We think that interactions between our companies and health care professionals are important," said Lori Reilly, vice president for policy and research for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, an industry trade group.

Reilly noted that the industry has self-imposed restrictions: For example, drug sales representatives cannot pay for doctors' entertainment.

But some pharmaceutical companies seem prepared to go further. Last week, Eli Lilly, one of the world's largest, released a statement supporting federal oversight of gifts and payments.