Great, but who checks it? Airline tickets in brown envelopes - hotel
vouchers deposited at the hotel? I am afraid it is one of those
politically motivated guidelines which are almost impossible to
control. Don't forget that app. 90% of all doctors attending the
American Heart Association meetings are paid by industry. Ethical
rules have to come from inside medical associations, not imposed from
above - even though some form of mild enforcement is often helpful.
It is a very powerful human instinct; receiving presents causes a
feeling of being loved. We used to call this the OLW syndrome after
the owl in Winnie-the-Pooh who wrote letters to himself because he
like to have letters in his mailbox.
My only worry is that most physicians forget that this is public
money, and not the industry's largesse!
All the best.
Leo Offerhaus MD PhD
Koedijklaan 1a, NL-1406KW Bussum, the Netherlands
Phone +31-35-6923288 Fax +31-35-6923290
E-mail: LO@EURONET.NL or CompuServe 71530,15
EJCP Only: POB 75552, NL-1070AN Amsterdam
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