AbstractThe gift parade as I remember it began early in medical school. Pharmaceutical companies offered free doctors' bags, free ophthalmoscope-otoscope instruments, free reflex hammers, free tuning forks, free books, and a variety of other“goodies”which we graciously accepted without thinking twice. As naive medical students, we did not consider the ethical implications of these offerings and were delighted not to have to spend funds from our meager resources for these student necessities.