Praise for a policy is not the normal type of thing that would be written about on this website, but since it is the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) applauding the efforts of The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), we thought it was worth noting.
AMSA, the nation’s oldest and largest independent association for physicians-in-training, applauds the pharmaceutical industry for implementing a voluntary ban on gifts to physicians, which began on January 1, 2009.
Enacted by PhRMA, the ban will prohibit pens, coffee mugs, and other branded gifts. AMSA has called for a comprehensive ban on gifts and all marketing efforts to medical professionals since 2002, when it initiated the PharmFree campaign (www.pharmfree.org).
AMSA’s PharmFree campaign has educated and trained thousands of medical students across the country to interact, professionally and ethically, with the pharmaceutical industry. “Banning gifts from the drug companies is a good first step,” says Dr. Brian Hurley, AMSA’s national president. “There is no role for marketing masquerading as education when our patients’ lives are at stake.”
As their young president noted, this is a good first step. They are optimistic for more restrictions and are using this occasion to ask for federal regulations to govern the pharmaceutical industry’s interactions with medical institutions. Specifically, AMSA supports passage of the Physician Payment Sunshine Act of 2008 (S. 2029), which would require disclosure of payments to physicians by the pharmaceutical industry.
It is honorable that AMSA is taking the step to applaud PhRMA, and perhaps in the end, both groups can use this opportunity find additional mutual ground that is focused on developing new medications that help patients.