NEW STANFORD PLAN SAYS 'NO' TO INDUSTRY GIFTS, GRATUITIES
The halls of Stanford University Hospital and Clinics will be just a little bit quieter today, the first day of a new ban on drug and device sales people bearing gifts, gratuities and unsolicited advice.
Stanford's tough policy, similar to one adopted by Kaiser Medical Group in late 2004, is designed to ease pressure on doctors to prescribe certain medicines or implant certain prostheses.
Gone are free pens, pencils, coffee mugs and bags decorated with company logos, donated by visiting drug reps. Stanford no longer welcomes lunches, dinners and refreshments that are funded by drug or device companies.
There are new expectations of doctors, as well. Industry-sponsored vacations are off-limits. And whether writing a journal article or buying supplies, doctors have to disclose any financial ties that they may have to a related company.
``We need to be aboveboard,'' said Dr. Lawrence Shuer, chief of staff at Stanford Medical Hospital and Clinics. As a teaching hospital, ``we have the ability to influence the future physicians of America.''
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