A growing number of American medical students refuse to accept personal gifts from the pharmaceutical industry on the premise that it would be unethical to do so. At European level, a joint declaration between the Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME) and European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries (EFPIA) seeks to establish guidelines.
The American Medical Student Association (AMSA) has taken a leading role on the issue of medical ethics by creating the ever-expanding "PharmFree" movement.
The underlying rationale is that taking gifts from drug companies may lead doctors to feel indebted to drug companies and so they may not prescribe medicines based solely on what is best for their patients. The American Medical Association, on the other hand condones gift-taking from pharmaceutical companies as long as the gift is not worth more than $100 (€83).
It is clear that activist students face a tough challenge in making such a moral statement. However, the latest stage of the 3-year-old Pharma-free project will seek to educate medical students about evidence-based medicine, so that they might share this information with more senior colleagues.
A recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association has said that doctors in teaching hospitals should lead the way in refusing gifts from the pharmaceutial and medical device industries because it damages the reputation of the medical profession.
The article presents itself against the backdrop of a whistleblower court case in Memphis, Tennessee where some spine surgeons were found to have accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from a medical devices company for undertaking limites amounts of work.
The article therefore suggests stricter rules including a ban on all gifts including free meals and prohbiting doctors from acceptinf free samples.
Do European doctors feel the same way?
EPHA member, the Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME) together with the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries (EFPIA) have published a Joint Declaration on the cooperation between the medical profession and the pharmaceutical industry.
The joint declaration seeks to establish a framework that can serve as guidelines at both European and national levels for the relationship between the medical profession and the pharmaceutical industry.
The document highlights the need to guarantee high ethical standards and the rights of patients. The independence of both parties in the conduct of their activities must also be ensured - for example, physicians must not ask for gifts from the industry and pharmaceutical companies may only arrange meetings for doctors that have a clear educational content.
When asked about their views on the matter, the European Medical Students’ Association (EMSA) stated that any gift that would modify or change rational professional behaviour cannot be accepted. They believe that the joint declaration contains several new points which address serious problems including the fact that physicians should not receive payment for referring patients to clinical trials.
Related EPHA article: Tougher rules in the UK for advertising of pharmaceutical products
