ON some traveling days, my most rewarding activity combines a modest meal with what my mother would tartly call lollygagging.
"For the price of a modest meal you can ponder the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, the origin of species, the interpretation of dreams, the nature of things," wrote Carl Sagan.
And Scott M. Lassman, senior assistant general counsel for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said: "It's our feeling that a modest meal is not the type of thing that is going to interfere with the independence of a health care practitioner.
But there is also a lot of cash being spread around to pay for doctors' travel and entertainment or for gifts or modest meals for a prescribing doctor's staff.
Drug makers have long argued that buying modest meals for doctors is simply a courtesy that allows doctors to take a moment out of their busy schedules to learn about medicines.
For a more modest meal go to Pijalnia Czekolady Wedel on Sopot's main thoroughfare, the Boulevard Monte Cassino 36 (00 48 58 550 0335; wedelpijalnie.pl).pl
Leslie Pott, a spokeswoman for AstraZeneca, said the company provided "modest meals" to doctors because "given a physician's demanding clinical schedule, the most efficient time for doctors and medical staff to meet with representatives is often during lunch hour".
For the modest meal your correspondent and the others gathered to witness consisted of the world's first hamburger made of meat that had been grown from scratch in a laboratory.What the 140 gram patty (pictured above) lacked in heft it made up for in price.
Medtronic said it had been a leader in pursuing industry ethical guidelines that suggest that device companies provide only "modest meals and receptions" and not pay for costly leisure activities.
The $258 Merck lunch, for example, cost the company only $10.75 a person and fell clearly within industry guidelines allowing modest meals.
For someone with a modest income, a meal out is a small luxury.
