Ethics code: They'll drink to that

The giant pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline PLC treated a dozen local doctors to free food and wine earlier this month at a waterfront restaurant in St. Petersburg. But don't call it a cocktail party.

It was, a Glaxo spokeswoman said, a "modest meal and educational presentation."

The distinction might seem inconsequential to outsiders. But in July, the nation's giant drug companies -- Glaxo included -- signed a code of ethics that sets new standards for how sales reps can schmooze with doctors.

Out are freebies such as tickets to sporting events, drug-logo golf bags and what were known in the industry as "dine and dash" programs: free meals without an educational component.

Cocktail parties are verboten under the new regulations, said Jeff Trewhitt, a spokesman for PhRMA, the pharmaceutical companies' trade association.

"The overriding goal is to have a meaningful conversation about the medicine," Trewhitt said, "not to catch up on the latest gossip."

Mary Ann Rhyne, Glaxo's spokeswoman, said the dinner hosted by local sales rep Tara Kipp featured a family practitioner talking about "improving outcomes in depression and anxiety in the primary care setting." The not-so-subtle pitch was for Glaxo's newest antidepressant, Paxil CR, touted as a better version of its predecessor pill (which is losing its patent protection.)

"Obviously doctors are very busy people, and their day is packed with patients," Rhyne said. "The question is how do doctors get information about medicines and new research into treatments and disease, and one of the easiest ways is this kind of presentation. We think this is a benefit to both physicians and patients."

It's just that the patients weren't invited in for free food and drinks.

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