Norplant indemnity offer from Wyeth-Ayerst does not conform to AMA policy adopted in 1992.
Executive Summary
WYETH-AYERST NORPLANT INDEMNITY OFFER DOES NOT CONFORM WITH AMA ethical positions as set forth in a 1992 statement by an American Medical Association council. The association's Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs said in June 1992 that offers of indemnity to physicians "constitute unacceptable gifts" ("The Pink Sheet" June 22, 1992, T&G-6). The council based its position on the assessment that an indemnity program adds a feature beyond patient need or medical considerations to the choice of products. The AMA group maintained that a "third party's offer to indemnify a physician for lawsuits arising from the physician's prescription or use of the third party's drug, device or other product, introduces inappropriate factors into medical decision making."