One of the most interesting experiences I had last year while working with a young company testing out an online system for helping medical professionals monitor patient health online was visiting a medical office in New Hampshire to explain the concept. The physician in charge invited my colleague and me to explain our approach during a lunch meeting…and made it clear we were expected to provide lunch. So we picked up some pizzas at an upscale Italian restaurant, and made our call.
What especially surprised me was the reaction of the ten doctors, nurses, and other staff in the office when we appeared with the pizza boxes. There were no introductions, no questions about who we were or what company we were from. The conversation was all about, "What’s for lunch?…Hey, nice pizzas…Ummm, pretty good, nice crust…(munch, slurp)." This was all part of a regular routine.
Eventually, when the pizzas were well on their way to being devoured, we did explain our company and its mission. But the vibes couldn’t have been clearer : this was just another day of free lunches, and we were just another couple of medical sales people. The names and companies may have changed day to day, but what mattered most to the medical professionals was, What’s on today’s lunch menu? It all felt pretty jaded.
I was reminded of that experience by an article in today’s New York Times reporting on how Big Pharma companies provide free lunches to much of the medical profession each day. As I sensed at the time, my single experience was a miniscule blip within a huge marketing campaign by Big Pharma. The NYTimes article quotes a number of medical experts who are concerned about the corruptive nature of the practice, as well they should be. Not only does the cost get computed into the prices everyone pays for prescription drugs, but the practice keeps physicians focused on prescribing drugs as a substitute for investigating alternative healthier ways of treating patients.
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