To the Editor The published version of our recent article “Pharmaceutical Industry–Sponsored Meals and Physician Prescribing Patterns for Medicare Beneficiaries”1 referenced an outdated version of the American Medical Association Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs’ Opinion on Gifts to Physicians From Industry. The current guideline states that “To preserve the trust that is fundamental to the patient-physician relationship and public confidence in the profession, physicians should: (a) Decline cash gifts in any amount from an entity that has a direct interest in physicians’ treatment recommendations. (b) Decline any gifts for which reciprocity is expected or implied. (c) Accept an in-kind gift for the physician’s practice only when the gift: (i) will directly benefit patients, including patient education; and (ii) is of minimal value.”2(pp115-116) The correction3 appearing with this Letter updates our article to reflect the change and the original article has been corrected online.
Corresponding Author: R. Adams Dudley, MD, MBA, Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California–San Francisco, 3333 California St, Ste 265, San Francisco, CA 94118 (adams.dudley@ucsf.edu).
Published Online: August 1, 2016. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.5054.
Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None reported.
1.DeJong
C, Aguilar
T, Tseng
C-W,
et al. Pharmaceutical industry–sponsored meals and physician prescribing patterns for Medicare beneficiaries [published online June 20, 2016].
JAMA Intern Med. doi:
10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.2765.
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