While some hospitals go so far as to ban drug sales reps from stepping foot in their halls, at medical society conferences there’s hardly a square inch that can’t be sponsored by a medical product-related company, reports ProPublica. At one society meeting this week, imperial banners adorn the sides of buildings. Logos are branded hotel key cards, cellphone charging stations, and carpets. Doctors can’t go to sleep without seeing another logo waiting for them on their nightstand. The goal? To influence, subtly and not so subtly, physicians into becoming emissaries for the interests of the sponsoring companies. [More]