Wednesday, January 14, 2009

No more free pens!

Amid all the disturbing news about the global recession, stock market crash, and unemployment numbers comes this: No more free pens for doctors! Now if there is one group of people that tend to be insulated from economic downturns, I would say doctors would be one of them. Think about it...people get sick no matter if its a good economy or a bad economy. And when people get sick they go to the doctor to get some medicine. Most people are not too worried about doctors missing a meal or their next mortgage payment. The vast majority, although they do not know how much doctors make, assume that they pull in six figures and would put them in the income level that President-elect Obama said should expect a tax increase this year. So why all the fuss about free pens? Surely doctors do not need free pens, they can buy them by the box. And who buys pens anyway? I cannot tell you the last time I bought a pen. A Sharpie yes, but not a regular ballpoint pen. At the desk I am sitting at right now, the drawer is full of pens, probably 50 or so, that came from points unknown. Pens are things that get borrowed but never returned. Sometimes on purpose, but usually by accident. You see a pen on the table, pick it up to write a note, and slip it into your pocket, and walk away. I work at a bank so we have lots of free pens lying around. In fact, we want you to take our pen, because it has our bank name on it. That's called advertising. In fact, this is how doctors got all their free pens, from drug reps. These are the salespeople that call on doctors to try to get them to use their drugs when writing out prescriptions for their patients. The article I read said, "But as of Jan. 1, all "non-educational" gifts to doctors are banned according to a voluntary ethics policy written by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a trade organization made up of the largest drug companies." What's probably more important to them is that they will still be able to receive drug samples and even more important, free lunches, from their drug reps. So this gave me an idea. Since I work at a bank and am always looking for new clients (especially people who have lots of money), and we have lots of free pens to give away, I think I'll start calling on a few doctor's offices in my area and see if they need any "free" pens. Heck, I'll even buy them lunch! Good thing I have an expense report.

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