Gene,
Thank you for spending the time and providing the information you have. There is no doubt I am a bit conflicted on this issue, and David's approach may be the noblest of all.
Even though I received the pen for filling out the governmental EHR user survey, I did not accept the pen and sent it back. Maybe it is time for physicians in general to respectively decline cost producing marketing efforts that are then transferred back to the patient.
However, I think there is only a limited time left in which marketing by major pharmaceuticals in individual offices will continue to exist as is.
I have to admit, I rarely use branded drugs, and pre-authorization tactics by the insurance companies keep me from prescribing branded drugs 99.9% of the time, and 99.9% of the time I can find a generic drug that will work just as well as a branded drug.
So I have to ask myself, why see drug reps for lunch and get detailed. And this is part of the conflict. 99.9% of the reps are great people trying to make a living and I have gotten attached to them over the years and know they are all trying to make a go of it and raise a family etc.....And have seen quite a few over the past several years get canned, or are next on the chopping block and it is hard to see this first hand.
And I like getting lunch brought to me and learning about new drugs or being reminded of semi-new drugs even knowing about the spin placed on the data.
So I don't know what the hell to do.
