Hospital to ban pharma rep freebies

[Guest guest]

Hospital to ban pharma rep freebies

Free pens and notepads and magnets emblazoned with drug logos--what would a

hospital be without them? It appears Pittsburgh is about to find out. The

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is crafting a new policy that would

prohibit almost all pharma-rep freebies. Employees, docs, and med students who

take the giveaways would face reprimands, fines, and loss of hospital

privileges. And industry reps who flout the prohibitions could be banned from

the property.

 

Okay, so no free ballpoints. But what about drug samples? Some critics of the

draft policy point out that uninsured patients often rely on samples from their

doctors. The hospital is considering a centralized sample-collection point. And

it may establish a voucher program so that poor patients can get the meds they

need at no charge.

 

Pitt's no-freebie policy is the latest in an anti-gift fervor sweeping

academic medical centers across the country. Henry Ford Hospital in Michigan,

for instance, requires vendors to take a class before strolling the halls, and

free food and promos are banned. Vendors in clinical-procedure areas have to

wear black scrubs so they're readily identifiable. Since the fashion rule went

into effect, the number of reps in O.R. areas has dropped from 30 to 35 a day to

some five or 10. What's next? The Scarlet P?

 

- read the report from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

 

Related Articles:

 

Top Lilly exec plays secret sales agent. Report

No freebies? No entry for pharma reps. Report

Groups plan new fight to limit pharma-doctor ties. Report

Psychiatrists getting largest pharma gifts. Report

Thinking through pharma bans. Editorial

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

....so now if I can't find my pen in my purse, there won't be a pen for

me to use to make notes?

 

....it's a start anyhow...but wish they'd start from the top and not

the bottom....

[Guest guest]

No other business can get away with the practice of giviing all this thing to

get the client to use their product. It's call anti-trust.

 

llaci2003 <jjaksic wrote: ...so now if I can't find my

pen in my purse, there won't be a pen for

me to use to make notes?

 

....it's a start anyhow...but wish they'd start from the top and not

the bottom....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

antitrust, don't believe so.......Its more like bribery and deception

-

joe dennis

 

Thursday, November 15, 2007 2:04 PM

Re: Re: Hospital to ban pharma rep

freebies

 

 

No other business can get away with the practice of giviing all this thing to

get the

client to use their product. It's call anti-trust.