Not All Drug Firms Subject to Gifts Guidelines, But, for Physicians, Their Gifts Are Still Tabooj

Abstract

WHILE the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PMA) has agreed to enforce among its members the American Medical Association's (AMA's) guidelines concerning gifts from industry, non-PMA members fall outside the association's authority. The situation has created an open loop in which it is not technically unethical for nonmember companies to offer extravagant gifts, yet it is unethical for physicians to accept them. Firm Offers 'Educational Cruise' Ethics codes are not the law, however, and a recent promotion by a biomedical company indicates that many physicians still are more than willing to accept these gifts. Collagen Corp, Palo Alto, Calif, is sending the 55 dermatologists who purchased the largest volume of injectable collagen between July 1990 and March 1991 on an 8-day educational in the South Pacific, all expenses paid. Winners of the trip were notified last month and the cruise is scheduled for late June. Howard D. Palefsky, chief executive officer