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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 March 2010
Brenda had had a busy afternoon. Her company had provided funds for two internal medicine residents to attend a national cardiology conference in New York. Even though nominations of the residents and payment for the event were coordinated through the department, Brenda was keen to spend some time with the chosen residents at the conference. She had successfully contacted one of them, Jack, and invited him and his colleague to dinner the evening before the conference. Brenda knew from her chats with Gloria, the residency coordinator, that Jack was a highly valued resident with aspirations to be a cardiologist. She was keen to talk to him more about the new antihypertensive medication Lowpress. The dinner would be an ideal opportunity to do this, so Brenda set about booking a table at one of the finest restaurants in New York.
Prescribing medication is not a simple technical action; it is a complex social interaction with many levels of meaning. Ethical medication giving requires an awareness of the importance and the inevitability of these many layers of meaning and their effects. Physicians who receive free gifts from the pharmaceutical industry need to be aware of the ethical issues that are raised and their possible effects on the action of prescribing.
Conflict of Interest
Physicians have an ethical duty to serve the interests of their patients and to avoid potential conflicts that might divert them from that commitment.
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