Does the Society intend to expel physicians who fail to comply with the policy on the acceptance of gifts?
The Wisconsin Medical Society develops policies through its House of Delegates and Board of Directors to shape and guide the decisions and actions of physicians, policymakers, legislators, the media and others. Policies such as ETH-004: The Relationship of the Profession to the Health Product Industry, are adopted after robust debate and careful deliberation. The Society believes that ETH-004 serves the best interests of medicine as well as the interests of patients. Therefore, the Society hopes that physicians will adopt it into their practices and encourage their colleagues to do so. The Society seeks to unite, rather than divide physicians, even on policies that may appear to be controversial. Therefore the Society has traditionally used its efforts to educate and encourage physicians to comply with Society policies rather than expel them. Although the Society’s Bylaws set forth certain circumstances in which expulsion is appropriate, a physician’s failure to adhere to a particular
