Correspondence

Pfizer Night at Boston Billiards

N Engl J Med 1997; 337:134July 10, 1997

Article

To the Editor:

One morning I came across an announcement on a bulletin board in the emergency department to the effect that “Pfizer Night returns . . . at Boston Billiards.” The small poster proclaimed: “Come meet the new Pfizer representatives . . . not to mention . . . Rack 'em up & Toss 'em down.” A few weeks later, at a noontime conference, a Pfizer salesperson invited residents in my pediatrics training program to a repeat of Pfizer Night. He explained that Pfizer paid for billiard-table time (“rack 'em up”) and drinks (“toss 'em down”) for doctors who came.

Attending such an event is unethical, according to the guidelines of the American Medical Association's council on ethical and judicial affairs. The guidelines permit modest meals and small gifts from drug companies only insofar as they “primarily entail a benefit to patients” and “are related to the physician's work (e.g., pens and notepads).”1

For aggressive drug-company representatives, such inappropriate promotions (which also violate the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association's code of ethical marketing practices2) may be just a way of doing business. But for doctors, they violate a basic principle: that we are advocates for our patients and not on the make for ourselves. At a time when physicians are searching for authority and respect in a new health care system, accepting improper gifts from pharmaceutical companies seems particularly unwise.

Now more than ever, when it comes to unethical drug-company gifts, shouldn't doctors just “leave 'em alone”?

Joshua Sharfstein, M.D.
9 Spring Park Ave., Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

2 References

1. 1

   Statement 8.061. In: AMA policy compendium. Chicago: American Medical Association, 1995:638.
   

2. 2

   Section IX. Code of pharmaceutical marketing practices. Washington, D.C.: Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, 1995:2.
   

Author/Editor Response

A spokesperson for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals replies:

To the Editor: At the event Dr. Sharfstein mentions, there were three slide presentations that we believe provided useful medical information to attendees. The event was conducted within the guidelines of the American Medical Association and the marketing-practices code of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, which permit appropriate entertainment in the context of educational programs. The flyer, however, did not state the educational objectives and activities and created a poor impression of this event, which Pfizer regrets. We have informed our representatives that such invitations must describe the educational objectives and content of the program.

Our sales force is well regarded by many physicians because our representatives conduct themselves professionally and in accordance with the promotional practices recognized in the medical community and our industry.

Joseph M. Feczko, M.D.
Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Group, New York, NY 10017-5755