Over the last year or so, there has been a campaign to break the hold of the pharmaceutical companies on doctors. The aim is to get more transparency so as to show the true relations between the drug industry and doctors, which involves taking gift , getting exotic all-expense- paid vacations, signing their names to articles they didn’t write, and on and on. The ultimate goal is to expose and eventually stop these practices.
Among the most fervent of these efforts has been carried out by groups of medical students and doctors who try to stop drug companies from handing out free lunches to busy medical professionals, who are often in hospitals on their short breaks.
Now, the pharma-free lunch movement faces the wrath of the restauarant lobby, which in Massachusetts is said to face a serious loss of business due to the reduction in the numbers of lunches bought by Big Pharma for the docs. Restaurants in Massachusetts want the gift ban ended, according to BNET:
Statehouse Democrats say the ban, which prevents drug sales reps from delivering free sandwiches to doctors, has “severely impacted the profitability” of local businesses. Rep. Brian Dempsey told the Boston Business Journal:… “We’ve been hearing from device and biotech companies, the convention center and the restaurant industry, that this is causing additional problems during the worst recession in memory.
As BNET reports, a pumped up Jeff Norris from Twins Restaurant & Catering in Erie, Pennsylvania, tells EZ Restaurant Marketing, an outfit that counsels restauranteurs how to break into feeding docs:
“I used to do 2 maybe 3 luncheons per week, and soon I was doing 2 or 3 luncheons PER DAY…Thru June 30th , 2004 I have done 4 TIMES the amount of business with drug reps than I did in ALL of 2003. My marketing is on cruise control. I have some offices REQUIRING drug reps to call me for their luncheons!”
In Los Angeles, for example, Dr. Lunch, an outfit that caters to docs,provides this testimonial from a Dr. Martin Levine: “My staff and I request their lunches repeatedly. We have always enjoyed the food and service provided by DR.LUNCH. The food is not only delicious, but always fresh. I highly recommend them for any event, whether it be your office or home.”
BNET further reports:
Some doctors get so used to free lunches that they issue instruction sheets to sales reps, such as this delightfully specific one from a Baltimore doctor obtained by [the blog]Pharmalot: “(Please do not order wraps, several members of the office have not tolerated them well).”
And we’re not just talking sandwiches and chips. Free lunches can be elaborate. Angelo’s of Flemington, NJ, offers Tiger Shrimp sautéed in a pink cream vodka sauce with penne pasta.
