Healthy Skepticism Library item: 6026

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: Journal Article

Guyatt G.
Academic medicine and the pharmaceutical industry: a cautionary tale.
CMAJ 1994 Mar 15; 150:(6):951-3
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=8131127

Abstract:

The residency program in internal medicine at McMaster University recently adopted formal guidelines for interactions with the pharmaceutical industry. The guidelines prohibit residents from receiving noneducational benefits (including lunches during drug briefings) from industry and exclude industry representatives from residents’ educational events. Shortly after the guidelines became effective a senior official from the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Canada visited the director of the residency program and suggested that because of the guidelines not only educational activities but also research could be compromised. In a parallel development, the head of the continuing medical education department also came under industry pressure. The verdict about the appropriate ethical standards that should guide physicians and publicly funded institutions in their relationship with the drug industry is not yet in. Leaders of both academe and the industry must prevent intimidation from being a hiddent or explicit factor in the ongoing debate.

Keywords:
*analysis/*educational intervention/Canada/continuing medical education/corporate funding/Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Canada/physicians in training/relationship between physicians in training and industry/McMaster University/bioethics/intimidation/academic freedom/ATTITUDES REGARDING PROMOTION: HEALTH PROFESSIONALS/ATTITUDES REGARDING PROMOTION: MEDICAL EDUCATORS/ATTITUDES REGARDING PROMOTION: PHYSICIANS IN TRAINING/EDUCATING ABOUT PROMOTION: HEALTH PROFESSION STUDENTS/PROMOTION DISGUISED: SUPPORT FOR CME/REGULATION, CODES, GUIDELINES: ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS/REGULATION, CODES, GUIDELINES: CONTACT WITH MEDICAL STUDENTS AND HOSPITAL STAFF/SPONSORSHIP: RESEARCH Canada Drug Industry* Ethics, Medical* Fund Raising* Guidelines* Internship and Residency* Interprofessional Relations* Training Support*