It's no secret that some drug companies pay for doctors to attend medical conferences in exotic locales. Others treat them to pricey meals and pass out pens and Post-it notes branded with product names. All told, drug and medical-device makers dole out an estimated $19 billion worth of gifts to physicians every year -- a practice that worries New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram, among others. On Sept. 19 she summoned a task force to consider putting limits on this orgy of gratuities. Although New Jersey wouldn't be the first state to pass laws, any action there would have a huge symbolic impact: The Garden State is home to many of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, including Merck & Co. and Johnson & Johnson.
Business Week October 8, 2007