>>>"travel expenses for beachfront junkets where doctors talked up new uses for particular drugs,
>
>Consider that perhaps a wonderful location is a benefit to patients: physicians are not compelled to attend every session and cheerfully will make their way to the beach rather than bolster attendance numbers for lousy content or known sock puppetry. ;-)
>
>Re new uses: AFAICS if there's a new use for a drug that meets standards and satisfies the FDA, there's nothing intrinsically wrong with talking it up at a credible conference where prescribers are gathered.

FWIW, my husband has been treated for over a decade using a drug for an off-label reason. Although FDA hasn't approved it this way, it is a standard course of treatment for his condition.

Tamar