Minnesota Health System Removes All Gifts From Pharmaceutical Companies, Implements Ban As Part Of New Policy

Main Category: Pharma Industry / Biotech Industry
Also Included In: Primary Care / General Practice
Article Date: 23 Jan 2008 - 9:00 PDT

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SMDC Health System, which operates four hospitals and 17 clinics in Minnesota and Wisconsin, recently removed all promotional gifts from pharmaceutical companies from the facilities -- a move that "underscored SMDC's decision to join the growing movement to ban gifts to doctors from drug companies," the AP/Washington Times reports. SMDC -- which collected 18,718 gifts, such as pens, notepads, coffee mugs and other items with logos for medications -- plans to send the items to a health system in Cameroon.

In addition, SMDC implemented a comprehensive conflict-of-interest policy that bans gifts from pharmaceutical companies and limits access to physicians and other health care professionals by company sales representatives. Kenneth Irons, chief of community clinics for SMDC, said, "We just decided for a lot of reasons we didn't want to do that any longer."

According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2006, gifts from the pharmaceutical industry to physicians can influence medical decisions. In response, Pew Charitable Trusts launched the Prescription Project, which seeks to implement recommendations in the study designed to prevent such conflicts of interest.

Marcia Hams, assistant director of the project, said that she hopes other health systems follow the example of SMDC. Hams said, "This seems like a pretty aggressive way to kick off a policy," adding, "It sends an important message, I think, for how a strict policy can be implemented in an effective way."

Ken Johnson, a spokesperson for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said, "I've never seen nor heard of a systematic roundup of pens and coffee mugs before," adding, "It's a bit draconian" (AP/Washington Times, 1/20).

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