When Money Comes in the Door, Ethics go out the Window

One of my medical school professors told me that sometime between 1960-1964. He emphasized that one should never recommend a course of treatment on the basis of personal financial benefit. He also felt that medical inventions should not be patented, and that surgeons should not take a fee plus collect a royalty for a surgical device or implant. I took that advice to heart, and never violated those rules. At the midpoint of my medical career I served as chairman of a department of orthopedic surgery and director of a total joint fellowship program at a Midwestern medical school. One of the manufacturers of joint implants that we used offered me a substantial bribe to use their implants exclusively. They knew that our trainees would likely continue using those implants for five or more years after completing the fellowship. 

I refused to accept their offer, and continued to use many different manufacturers products depending on my assessment of the patients needs. My residents and fellows became comfortable with a variety of total joint implants. The company that had offered the exclusive deal went to the president of the medical school and offered a million dollar endowed professorship if they would replace me with a surgeon who would use their products exclusively. Naturally, they took the deal, and I relocated.