Austin American-Statesman, March 31, 2007 AUSTIN -- Every year, pharmaceutical companies heap millions of dollars in gifts on physicians that range from take-out meals for their office staffs to junkets at lavish resorts. It's a practice that mostly takes place out of the view of the public because few states require companies to disclose such gifts, travel or speaking or consulting fees. There is nothing illegal about doctors accepting money or gifts from pharmaceutical companies. There is something wrong, however, with continuing the practice in the dark. A bill by state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, would shine a light on those ties by requiring pharmaceutical companies and drug marketers to publicly report gifts worth more than $75 to the Department of Health Services. Doctors are not of one mind on the topic, and some are more in touch with public sentiment than others, saying that the arrangement compromises professional ethics. "I commonly hear physicians get outraged that they can be bought for a sandwich, but show me one doctor who has been bought by a sandwich. It's a series of sandwiches" that raises questions about conflicts of interest, said Dr. Howard Brody, director of the University of Texas Medical Branch Institute for Medical Humanities in Galveston, who is writing a book on the topic. He said Lucio's bill might pressure doctors to think twice before accepting gifts. The costs of those gifts add to the high price of drugs, he said.