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Gifts, drugs and classes that makers of pharmaceuticals and medical devices routinely give doctors undermine care, hurt patients and should be banned, a group of influential doctors say in The Journal of the American Medical Association today.Medical schools and teaching hospitals should be the first to establish a comprehensive ban, the group writes. But the authors argue that all doctors should eventually follow suit.The recommendations would transform doctors' day-to-day lives and shut off the focus of drug makers' biggest expenditures. Dr. David Blumenthal, an author of the article, said it was "not very likely" that many in medicine would listen. "I'm not very optimistic," said Blumenthal, a Harvard Medical School professor.Federal law forbids companies from paying doctors to prescribe drugs or devices, but gifts and consulting arrangements are almost entirely unregulated. Sanction are extremely rare.
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