See, this is exactly what we wanted - differing viewpoints. I found it interesting that 2 other Florida physicians, KenP and ryanjo, have more restrictive policies. It may be that the attitude of and towards drug reps varies by state. In our case, in South Florida, we have seen male and older female reps be replaced by younger, more attractive female reps. Now, how much is due to poor performance, career change, etc. is debatable. However, it is irrefutable that sex sells. We've observed that newer reps are less educated and more attractive than their predecessors, e.g., nursing or master's degrees vs bachelor's degrees and some have modeling experience. I have 3 daughters of my own, so I hope that my previous comments weren't misunderstood.
Again, this is what I and the mostly female staff have concluded. Additionally, those anecdotes underline our concern that reps do speak about other physicians. I fear retribution if we ban reps. To my knowledge, we've never said or done anything that a rep could complain about to others, but I still feel like they may be vindictive. And now we've managed to sound paranoid!
I also see that in situations like Bert's and Wendell's, that reps do serve their purpose as their situation significantly differs from our own. Our experience has been that the drug samples don't benefit us as much because of the aforementioned reasons. We are never rude to drug reps and they are rarely rude to us, however their actions speak louder sometimes.
-Anthony
