RTI uses cookies to offer you the best experience online. By clicking “accept” on this website, you opt in and you agree to the use of cookies. If you would like to know more about how RTI uses cookies and how to manage them please view our Privacy Policy here. You can “opt out” or change your mind by visiting: http://optout.aboutads.info/. Click “accept” to agree.
When I began medical school in 1974 I was a fanatic about drug industry gifts to students. The drug companies gave us all manner of tools for doctors—reflex hammers, stethoscopes, the works, nicely branded with their logos—and I was one of the few who rejected them all. In particular I remember a set of beautifully illustrated books on anatomy, or maybe it was histology, that were actually required texts for one of our courses. I couldn’t believe that the school would allow what I considered advertising into the curriculum. Time passed, and I became less and less vigilant. By the time I was a resident I was enjoying pizza parties sponsored by the "detail men." As a young GP I was happy to prowl the exhibits at meetings and pick up the ever more impressive gifts to be had for listening to a pitch for their latest blockbuster: a computer.