| AMA
planned a campaign to remind doctors of
ethical guidelines limiting their
acceptance of gifts from pharmaceutical
companies. The campaign was to be
sponsored by Eli Lilly Corporation. (USA
Today, 4/27/01, “Drugmakers bankroll
ethics guidelines on
‘freebies’”) In 1997, the
American Medical Association agreed to
endorse products made by the Sunbeam
Corporation. The five-year agreement
would have placed the AMA’s logo on
a line of thermometers, blood pressure
monitors, and other home healthcare
products and generated millions of
dollars in royalties for the medical
group (New York Times, 8/13/97, p. A1).
However, the AMA hadn’t evaluated
the quality and cost of the products (New
York Times, 5/17/97, p. D6). As a result
of media publicity and concerned AMA
members, the deal was scrapped and five
of the group’s executive leadership
left the AMA (New York Times, 9/20/97, p.
D2; Chicago Sun Times, 11/1/97, p. A1).
Subsequently, Sunbeam sued the AMA for
breach of contract and won a $9.9 million
settlement. (Medical Industry Today,
8/4/98)
The
Chicago Sun-Times reported that in early
1996 Procter & Gamble/olestra,
through its PR agency, gave the AMA a
check for $800,000 in partial support of
an AMA fitness program; the check, which
was later returned, came after the AMA
issued a statement endorsing the
FDA’s approval of olestra. (AMA
press release, Jan. 1996; Chicago
Sun-Times, 11/26/97, p. 70)
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