Complimentary journeys to the World Congress of Gastroenterology - an inquiry of potential sponsors and beneficiaries

One of the most effective tools of pharmaceutical marketing is the distribu tion of gifts to physicians whose magnitude remains ill defined. This anony mous survey determines the frequency with which physicians receive travel a wards from drug companies to attend International Medical Conventions and a ttempts to obtain the recipients' opinion on ethical and legal issues relat ed to such sponsorships. Methods: A questionnaire was mailed to all members of the German Gastroente rological Association who had attended the most recent World Congress of Ga stroenterology and to 30 pharmaceutical companies. Questions concerned the physician's role at the congress, the mode of payment fur travel, lodging a nd convention fees as well as the attendees' opinion on ethical and legal i ssues related to sponsoring by pharmaceutical companies. Results: 78% of the contacted physicians returned the questionnaire. 67% (9 5% CI [55, 80]) of them received compensation for their travel expenses by industry, and the majority of them stated that they would not have attended the congress if such sponsoring had not occurred. More than two thirds bel ieved that sponsoring by drug companies neither interferes with ethical and legal issues nor affects prescribing behavior. Such opinions were more fre quently expressed by sponsored than nonsponsored attendees (p = 0.003). 20% of the contacted drug companies returned the questionnaire, one of whom ex pressed concerns regarding the ethics of sponsorships. Conclusions: international conventions would suffer from a significant depr ivation of attendance if the attendees' expenses were not subsidized by ind ustry. Recognition of ethical and legal issues related to such sponsoring a ppears to be limited and requires further discussion within the medical com munity.