Party Pooper?

The Annual Education Conference (AEC) of the National Society of Genetic Counselors offers a balanced mix of the academic, the clinical, the professional, and, perhaps most importantly, the social. Some of my most cherished professional relationships were formed at the AEC after I struck up a conversation with a genetic counselor who I had not previously known but who wound up sitting next to me in the audience, joined me on a panel presentation, came up and asked me a question after a talk I gave, or perhaps most commonly, unwinding at a bar after a marathon of lectures and workshops. Professional demeanors discarded, guard down, shoes off at day’s end, sipping an interesting beer or a fine single malt Scotch, you can easily become BGCCF (Best Genetic Counseling Comrades Forever). Sometimes I can’t remember a blessed thing I heard all day at the AEC but that post-plenary bar conversation often opened my mind to new and exciting ideas and warm companionship.

Capitalizing on the social networking aspect of the AEC, some corporate sponsors have taken to hosting evening parties and dinners. Maybe it is just my imagination, but the number of these soirees seem to have increased over the last few years. Free food, a generous open bar, genetic counselors eager to socialize and compare notes – what a great way to live it up on our meager travel budgets, freed from the worry of trying to justify several glasses of wine when you submit your receipts for reimbursement. So who can complain?

Well, me, for one.

Okay, so I admit to being an ethical stick in the mud who can suck all the fun out of the dance hall. But now that we have acknowledged yet another of my social failings, let me pose this question for discussion – Is it appropriate for genetic counselors to accept free fare provided by corporate sponsors at the AEC, particularly at non-educational activities?

Stick In The Mud Bobby

To be clear – I am not taking the corporate sponsors to task. They are businesses, and doing business is what businesses do. With so many labs competing for our samples, they should and will do whatever ethical actions it takes to keep their genetic counselor customers happy. If we told them they would be more likely to get and keep our accounts if they donated that money to Action Against Hunger instead of catering to slightly hungry genetic counselors who want to party a little, I am sure they would do that (not to split hairs too finely, but, all else being equal, selecting a lab in part because it participates in what you consider to be ethical practices such as donating to charitable organizations based on the company’s ethos is different than using a lab because it donates money to feeding clinicians at a conference). The ethical burden is on us, not the sponsors, who are responding to a demand that we have – silently? – created and fostered.

I can already hear the complaints of “Oh Jeez, Bob, can’t you just let us have a good time? I mean it’s just a few drinks and some good food. I give that lab a lot of business. Why can’t I get an occasional treat out of it? So I am nibbling on shrimp atop a round of fried polenta topped with basil pesto while sipping a glass of Nebbiolo. Enough with your puritanical ethics already. Really, what harm is gonna’ result?”

Puritan Bobby (not my real wife)

Perhaps none. But is a practice ethical until harm results? What would patients think if they knew that the very labs that were analyzing their specimens were also providing us with food and spirits? Maybe many of our patients would not care, and might even be slightly envious. But other patients might be surprised if they learned that the lab where you sent their specimens to be analyzed was also wining and dining you. Or what if one day a lab became embroiled in some financial funny business or God forbid a scandal from sub-standard laboratory practices and word leaked out that the lab was in the practice of courting counselors with culinary baksheesh? We would feel awfully awkward and might appear to be guilty by association.

One could legitimately ask whether an occasional gift of food and wine really affects our decisions about which labs we use. Probably many practitioners would deny it or suggest that it does not affect their decisions but may sometimes affect their colleagues’ choices (“I’m very ethical and would never let a glass of wine stand between me and my patients’ best interests. But maybe that is not so true for a few other genetic counselors.”). On the other hand, it is hard to believe that labs would spend valuable cash on activities that resulted in a loss of business. This stuff must be successful on some level or else they wouldn’t do it. TANSTAAFL. We may not be consciously aware of how these influences work. Vide Blind Spots. Which leads me to pose more uncomfortable questions – Should we include attending a corporate-sponsored after-hours bash in our conflict of interest statements when we publish articles or make professional presentations? Many hospitals and other employers of genetic counselors ban vendor sponsored lunches in our offices, so how is this any different? If the free food and drink is not directly connected to an educational activity, would this be a violation of the Stark Law on the part of the vendor, since  just about all labs receive Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement?

By the way, yes, you can call me Mr. Guilty. I have attended my share of these events, but, after a long discussion with my conscience (who I also met at the bar), over the last few years I have decided to avoid them.

But enough of my thoughts. This is about all of us, not just me. What do the Good Readers of The DNA Exchange think about this? Are there better ways to foster collegial and professional relationships with labs that are transparent and ethical, and that allow labs to maintain and grow their volumes? Complete the admittedly unscientific poll below and also share your thoughts in the Comments.

Voodoo Bobby Doll

And please, be gentle with your Bob Resta voodoo dolls.

Thanks to Emily Singh for realizing the graphics and to Maureen Flynn for a thoughtful discussion that sparked and helped shape this posting.