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Howard Gelbart, MD
Cincinnati, Ohio

JAMA. 1990;263(16):2177.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

In a recent article, Chren et al¹ presented the practical and ethical considerations associated with physicians accepting gifts from pharmaceutical companies. Two issues, the educational efforts regarding gifts within medical schools and residency programs and the actual importance of many new medications, deserve further emphasis.

The offering of gifts such as a stethoscope, medical bag, or textbook begins in medical school. As mentioned in the article¹ and as illustrated by the findings of Palmisano and Edelstein,² the ethical issues of accepting gifts from pharmaceutical companies should be discussed very early. In a survey of 100 third-year medical students, Palmisano and Edelstein² reported that more than 85% of the students believed it inappropriate for a public official to accept a $50 gift from a contractor, while fewer than half responded similarly in reference to accepting a gift of equal value from a pharmaceutical company. . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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