St. Albans family physician Elaine Moore spends relatively little time entertaining drug reps. Instead, she reads journal articles and consults colleagues for advice on which medicines to prescribe. Not all are local events, she said. Along with invitations come written requests. Educational functions at local hotels, complete with plenty of food and free alcohol, are not out of the ordinary, she said.
Physicians earn continuing medical education credits for attending such seminars.
Drug reps routinely pay for office lunches, Moore said. If she desired, her staff could eat free every day. Free dinners for a physician's family are also a staple, Moore said, if a doctor is merely willing to stop by a restaurant and meet briefly with a rep. Moore said she shuns such arrangements. I don't want to owe anybody anything.