Recently, Dr. David McNeil wrote a guest editorial in these pages in which he argued that it is appropriate for doctors to give talks for pharmaceutical companies ("We Can Work With Pharma," February 2008, p. 11).

In that article, Dr. McNeil made several statements and arguments that I have often heard in defense of this practice. As the author of one of those critical "mass media" articles to which Dr. McNeil was apparently referring ("Dr. Drug Rep," New York Times Magazine, Nov. 25, 2007), I'd like to address some of these points.

Since Dr. McNeil says that he would like to know the agenda of the critics, I will begin by making my own disclosures. I own, write, and ...