Published 7 May 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b1835
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b1835

Observations

Yankee Doodling

No gifts, please, we’re doctors

Douglas Kamerow, chief scientist, RTI International, and associate editor, BMJ

dkamerow@rti.org

New recommendations from the US Institute of Medicine are broad and deep

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

When I began medical school in 1974 I was a fanatic about drug industry gifts to students. The drug companies gave us all manner of tools for doctors—reflex hammers, stethoscopes, the works, nicely branded with their logos—and I was one of the few who rejected them all. In particular I remember a set of beautifully illustrated books on anatomy, or maybe it was histology, that were actually required texts for one of our courses. I couldn’t believe that the school would allow what I considered advertising into the curriculum.

Time passed, and I became less and less vigilant. By the time I was a resident I was enjoying pizza parties sponsored by the "detail men." As a young GP I was happy to prowl the exhibits at meetings and pick up the ever more impressive gifts to be had for listening to a pitch for their latest blockbuster: a computer . . . [Full text of this article]


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Rapid Responses:

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Re: no gifts, please.
Dr Triona A Marnell
bmj.com, 12 May 2009 [Full text]
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