Turning goods over to distributor: record keeping and possible product disparagement

A distributor of medical supplies and devices is now representing a new manufacturer. He wants the buying hospital to also switch to this new manufacturer. The distributor has offered to replace existing stocks of items with those from the new manufacturer. The distributor would take the items from the hospital's existing stocks and use them as demos or otherwise dispose of them. The hospital materials manager is agreeable but wonders about legal complications. In this dialogue, Dr. Decker discusses the legal issues involved in this proposition of the distributor.