"Conflict of interest" is a phrase that is often -- though inaccurately --
used.

Put very simply, you have a conflict of interest if you have a decision to
make, in your job, that could bring you some kind of benefit.  Like money.
Mom needs a pump, you sell pumps.  If she is asking you about pumps in a
*clinical" setting (she is lying in the hospital bed) then you have a
"conflict of interest" because the Clinical You doesn't care about
"pushing product," but the Commerical You does.  So, this scenario tugs you
in -- ta da -- conflicting directions.

Conflicts of interest have NOTHING to do with the quality of the product
being offered.  They have to do with whether or not *you* are benefitting
from a decision *you* are being asked to make.

The Mom in the bed learns you are selling great pumps.  It is a conflict of
interest for you to give her that information.  The mom in the bed learns
you are selling lousy pumps.  It is a conflict of interest for you to give
her that information.

I do not know why other HCPs would be "allowed" to sell one product line or
type over another ... but if they are selling at all, they have somehow
resolved whatever conflicts-of-interest are at issue.  There are a whole
host of truth-in-advertising regulations that may be at play (those apply to
IBCLCs, too, by the way).
-- 
Liz Brooks JD IBCLC
Wyndmoor, PA, USA

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