It's an office supply graveyard: Thousands of glossy multicolored pens spill out of the filing cabinets in Robert Goodman's office at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City. Goodman, an assistant professor of medicine, is on a mission to stop pen-freebie largesse-and its potential influence on doctors.
Under his No Free Lunch campaign, Goodman is reducing the number of drug-branded ballpoints in circulation. He practices "pen amnesty": Send him a drug pen, and he'll send you back a No Free Lunch replacement.
Giveaways merely raise awareness of new drugs, says a spokesman for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. But Goodman argues that trinkets subconsciously influence physicians. One study found that 61 percent of medical residents said freebies had no effect on them, but only 16 percent thought the same was true of their colleagues.
About 350 doctors and medical students have taken Goodman's No Free Lunch pledge. An online directory of doctors who have sworn off gifts is in the works.
