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To the Editor: While reading Dr Wazana's¹ article about pharmaceutical gifts, my first thought was that I was reading this in a journal I had received courtesy of the pharmaceutical companies who advertise in it. However, I was most disturbed by the implication that I could be bought and that I did not have the intelligence to decide for myself what was fact and what was a commercial.

Having been practicing for the past 20 years, I have seen a significant improvement in the quality and content of pharmaceutical-supported conferences. Rarely do I attend one that is strictly a commercial. It is also rare today to attend any conference that does not have some pharmaceutical support.

I agree with Wazana's conclusion that prescribing habits are affected by these conferences, but I disagree that it is because of the perks. It is the perks that help draw physicians, but the quality . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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