Faulty Logic

I find it ridiculously funny that the collective wisdom of seven psychiatrists from the United States and Canada is to stop using bags with drug company logos because it offends some people.

The idea that our professional integrity and public image are somehow tarnished by carrying a bag with a Pfizer or GSK logo on, as expressed in the letter titled “Bring Your Own Bag” in the April 21 issue, is overblown. (Though I must say something does occur: At APA's 2005 annual meeting, a passerby on the street said to me, “Hey doc, can't you afford a Neiman-Marcus bag?”)

I imagine some people will buy into the faulty logic that because I have pens and bags with drug names on them, I'm a pawn of the pharmaceutical industry and/or endorse the escalating cost of health care. By that line of thinking, I should stop wearing my San Francisco Giants baseball cap least someone think I endorse anabolic steroid use in sports.

To my well-meaning colleagues who can't bring themselves to participate in a free-market society, I suggest giving your bags imprinted with drug company logos to poor school kids. That is what I do.