ETH-004
The Relationship of The Profession To The Health Product Industry: The Wisconsin Medical Society
(Society) supports the following policy on accepting gifts from those who provide health products
prescribed by physicians, including the pharmaceutical and device industries.
Physicians shall accept no gifts from any provider of products that they prescribe to their patients
such as personal items, office supplies, food, travel and time costs, or payment for participation in
online CME. A complete ban eases the burdens of compliance, biased decision making, and
patient distrust.
Medical philosophers from ancient to modern affirm the priority of patient interest as the cornerstone of
medical professionalism and the first principle in resolving conflict of interest (COI) questions. High
quality patient care and health outcomes depend on patient trust in physician advice. COI is ubiquitous in
human relationships, including the patient-physician relationship, therefore, the profession and each
physician every day must strive to acknowledge and manage COI in order to prevent avoidable bias in
medical decision making. A physician’s prescribing decision should be based on the best evidence
available.
The reciprocal giving of gifts is an ancient human practice and likely has survival value by reinforcing
social bonds. Health product companies have long offered gifts to physicians and the profession has long
denied being influenced by these gifts. By distinguishing among possible gifts according to monetary
value or value to patient care, ethicists have attempted to estimate the risk that specific gifts could bias
medical decision making -- no doubt these distinctions have reduced the frequency of outrageous gifts,
however, it is becoming apparent that any gift from a product provider to a product prescriber risks biased
decision making, and at least, risks loss of patient trust in physician advice. Some conflicts can’t be
avoided, but avoidance of unnecessary conflicts is the cornerst