Hey everybody! THis is a request from Brian Palmer the AMSA National Treasurer/Mayo Med Student/U. of MN Public Health Student. Please respond by tomorrow at 4pm IF YOU ARE AGAINST THIS IDEA. SOrry for the short notice. If I do not hear back by then, we are going to go ahead and send it. Take care, Celia > 2) I'm working to get Boynton to stop their weekly drug lunches. I'm meeting > with SHAC on Thursday to get them to take a stand, and I'd like a letter of > support from AMSA. Stephanie Stanton is on SHAC, so MSS is on board already. > If you would be up for drafting something or asking another AMSA person to, > that would be really, really helpful. It would be *even more* helpful if I > had it by Thursday morning. > > I would never tell you what to write, but if you felt pressured by a > deadline, I would want you to have the following text: ;-) > > Ed Ellinger, MD, MSPH > Director and Chief Health Officer > Boynton Health Service > University of Minnesota > > Dear Dr. Ellinger, > > As future physicians, the members of the American Medical Student Association > take our responsibility for high ethical standards seriously. As you know, > pharmaceutical companies regularly attempt to manipulate physician > prescribing practices by providing lunches, trips, and other gifts to > providers and office staff members. We are very concerned with this > practice, as it substitutes marketing responses for evidence-based medical > practice. Moreover, it costs our patients money in higher drug costs, as the > companies currently spend more on marketing than research. > > The evidence on the matter is compelling. The prima facie arguement is quite > strong: Companies would not provide gift unless they had evidence that the > response resulted in better product sales. But the evidence goes further > than that. Articles in JAMA, the Archives of Internal Medicine, and many > other journals in the past few years have clearly shown that the practice of > free lunches and gifts 1) influences prescribing practices, 2) influences > formulary choices, 3) distributes biased and incomplete information, and 4) > decreases evidence-based pharmaceutical product selection. We understand > that Stephanie Stanton, AMA-MSS president, and Brian Palmer, AMSA National > Treasuer have provided you with specific references to support our claims. > > We are surprised and disappointed that Boynton Health Service has > institutionalized the practice of pharmaceutical company sponsorship of CME > activities. As medical students, we can certainly appreciate the staff's > desire to have lunch. However, as future physicians, we believe it is > entirely inappropriate and bad for overall patient care to continue the > practice of accepting lunches and gifts--of any size--from pharmaceutical > companies. There is, after all, no such thing as a free lunch, and the price > paid here is the credibility of physicians, the evidence-based practice of > medicine, and the finances of our patients. As the institution that trains > the majority of the state's physicians and other health providers, all > components of the University of Minnesota have a responsibility to adhere to > the highest ethical standards and to be models for students. > > We urge you to discontinue the practice of pharmaceutical company sponsorship > of activities and to instead provide opportunities in CME where staff can > learn of the newest therapeutics in independent, evidence-based ways. > > Sincerely, > > > Celia Garner > President, U of MN AMSA Chapter > >