@imallears You can't have my sign, it was a gift as was my hat that says "wine chic". On our yearly trips to CA wine country I really learned a lot and I enjoyed that very much.

That was a time when my doctor had really done a lot for me, when I was diagnosed with cirrhosis. He had gone above and beyond and I knew what he liked in wine. He is also a doctor who is fairly opposed to a lot of drugs so I doubt he gets much in the way of compensation from drug companies. The goodies were for the staff, but I am quite sure he kept the wine himself.

I think there is no way to make a blanket statement, our relationships with our doctors are very individual. He is the only one to whom I ever gave a gift, and I have a lot of doctors. Despite the fact that I recently changed doctors we had a very close relationship and he called recently to talk about it.

Our friend, the retired doctor whom I have mentioned before used to get all kinds of stuff, and a lot of home-baked goodies. Another friend, a periodontist, got extremely expensive gifts from patients!

@funcountess My husband has given up on his grandchildren. He nows sends them personal checks because then he least knows if it was received and cashed.
JK