The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) Board of Directors recently updated their Code on Interactions with Healthcare Professionals, prohibiting distribution of non-educational items (such as pens, mugs and other "reminder" objects typically adorned with a company or product logo) to healthcare providers and their staff. Despite their minimal value, the code states they "may foster misperceptions that company interactions with healthcare professionals are not based on informing them about medical and scientific issues."

Working for a promotional products company I'm surely a little biased, but this doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Under the updated code, pharmaceutical manufacturers can still treat doctors and other healthcare providers to expensive dinners, as long as they're part of an "educational" event. According to a study cited in the New York Times, at least 25% of doctors in the US have actually been paid by drug companies to lecture at events like these. Promotional pens and mugs must have an immensely powerful effect to be more influential than these types of dinner and lecture arrangements.

At the end of the day, I think the pharmaceutical industry is due for some reform. It's dominated by huge, immensely-profitable companies that use their clout to influence healthcare professionals and lawmakers. At the same time, I think they should be allowed to market their products responsibly. Promotional products, providing tangible, visible evidence of their marketing seem like a convenient sacrificial lamb, while drug companies continue practices that may be more deeply detrimental to the quality of healthcare than a free pen.