Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Heart Surgeon's Brothel in Dallas

Over at CardioBrief, Larry Husten reviews the industry prospectus offered by an international meeting for cardiac surgeons, occurring in Dallas January 9-11. Apparently, the organizers of the meeting believe they are still in the roaring 90's when the industry gravy train was making stops at every doctor's office, throwing cash into the air and watching as doctors gleefully scooped up as much lucre as they could hold.

At "Dallas Leipzig International Valve 2010," everything is for sale--including the surgeons. Thus, in addition to paying for exhibition space, symposia, wine-tastings, and logos on flash-drives, notebooks, and attendee's foreheads (not really), valve companies can buy an intimate dinner with "four faculty members for a private one-on-one meeting." But act quickly--the program limits each faculty member to only one trick per conference: "Secure your faculty choice early as faculty will be removed from selection list once chosen."

5 comments:

Elaine Schattner, M.D. said...

This story would be astonishing, except that it reflects the real, grubby, money-seeking and ego-driven culture of academic medicine.

SteveM said...

Dan,

According to the DLIV on-line brochure, for a mere $25K, you can buy a booth to promote your new book.

And to melt away the cardiac condescension of a lowly psychiatrist, you can also host an:

Exhibit Hall Wine Tasting Competition - Attract attendees to your exhibit booth by serving the best wine. Choose from a provided wine list or choose from a more comprehensive wine list for an additional expense. Exhibit Hall is only open to participating vendors during the tasting.

P.S. When planning, remember, wine is like insurance - you never have enough.

Anonymous said...

'brothel' is rather a strong word

Uma said...
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Uma said...
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