There’s nothing like a convention. And more than 15,000 doctors visited Washington, D.C. last week to attend Digestive Disease Week, the largest-ever gathering of gastrointestinal physicians. So Integrity in Science Watch paid a visit. Here’s the report:

“As soon as each doctor walked onto the convention floor, they were handed purple-pill backpacks advertising Nexium from AstraZeneca. The Shire booth offered weary physicians a park-like atmosphere complete with gently rolling grassy hills, stone paths, park benches, and free hot dogs. The Abbott booth contained a mini-movie theater.

On every aisle, companies provided free slushies, gourmet espressos, coffee, tea, sweets, hot dogs, and fresh pretzels. They also offered beach towels, blankets, movies, free internet access, and, the most popular gift of all, a comfortable place to sit and chat with colleagues or the model-like sales representatives who prowled the convention floor.

Most of the doctors surveyed did not express concerns about the potential influence of the gifts. Some said they expect free knick-knacks at conferences, but would oppose them at schools or hospitals. Others said it was important for companies to promote themselves. Almost no one favored cutting out free gifts at physician conventions and offices, but perhaps that was because this informal survey only included doctors clutching blankets, towels, key chains, or pens.

The quietest space on the convention floor was the corner reserved for the small booths of patient advocacy groups, text book sellers, and scientific journals. ‘We don’t get any sponsorship from corporations for our meeting booths,’ says Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America rep Laura Hitchens, eyeing the towering Fuji stereo sound system blaring a description of a colonoscopy camera.

Thelma King Thiel of the Hepatitis Foundation says they wouldn’t say no if a company was to offer to fund their booths but, she adds, not many companies are interested in prevention.