Why I declined an invitation to a drug company seminar

I was recently invited by a pharmaceutical company to a seminar in a five star hotel in Pakistan, where I live and work. The seminar was on mental health, and the company had invited a “foreign speaker” to talk on the subject.

I declined the invitation. These were the reasons I gave: “Thank you for your invitation which for ethical reasons I have to decline. I consider all interactions of physicians with pharmaceutical companies unethical and a cause of serious conflict of interest. I also do not accept any gifts, large or small, in any shape, form, or size from any drug company. I do not attend pharmaceutical company sponsored seminars (such as …