Spanish doctors say “no thank you” to drug industry gifts

Healthcare professionals in Spain are beginning to fight back against the pressure that the drug industry exerts on them to prescribe particular products. Professionals from a wide range of medical fields have created the No Gracias (“No thank you”) group, part of the international No Free Lunch movement, a network of non-profit organisations that aim to “encourage health care providers to practise medicine on the basis of scientific evidence rather than on the basis of pharmaceutical promotion” (www.nofreelunch.org).

One of the organisers of the recently launched Spanish group, Carlos Ponte, head of the intensive care unit at Asturias Central Hospital, in Oviedo, northern Spain, said, “This platform aims to impact on, and to change, the relations between the drug industry, public sector health bodies, healthcare professionals, and patients and citizens.” Many professionals who have joined the group wear a “No Gracias” badge on their white coats to promote discussion with patients about the group’s aims.

Juan Gervás, a GP in Madrid, said, “The No …