We've all seen those colorful commercials touting the benefits of new drugs. Some estimates show large pharmaceutical companies spend about one-third of their revenue on sales and marketing. Much of it is aimed at doctors, in the form of pens, notepads, drug samples, dinners, even resort vacations. Last month the drug industry came out with some self-imposed ethical guidelines barring excessive gifts. Now, some prestigious medical centers, like Stanford, Yale and UCLA are banning doctors from accepting any freebies. There's concern the gifts unfairly bias doctor's decisions.
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Note: Full Focus asked numerous drug companies to participate, including Pfizer, Amylin, Novartis, Santaurus, Verus and others. They all declined.
