A ban on gifts would resolve confusion - and be the right thing to do

This article from CNN money highlights the confusing state of US regulations covering gifts from drug companies to doctors. At one recent event signs on the Eli Lilly booth explained which doctors can receive free yogurt and which can't, depending on which state they are from.

But the absurdity of the situation only gets worse if you look across across international borders. A survey carried out in Pakistan by The Network and referred to Consumers International's report Drugs, Doctors and Dinners showed that companies in Pakistan were offering doctors computers, club membership and even a buffalo as gifts.

Consumers International maintains that the best policy is simply to ban the giving of gifts. Whether it is a buffalo or a branded ball point pen the practice of giving gifts should be an embarrassment for the companies involved. This gimmickry just underlines the fact that the relationship that companies are seeking with doctors is still based on marketing, rather than evidence based education.