A gift or a bribe?

• Position: Stateline - Vermont requires reporting of gifts from drug companies to doctors and nurses - Brief Article

Vermont has become the first state to take aim at drug companies' practice of showering free gifts--from ballpoint pens to trips--on doctors and nurses. Under the new law, any gift valued at $25 or more, other than free drug samples, must be reported to the state by pharmaceutical companies. The law includes a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per violation, with the first reports due January 2004. Proponents of...