Healthy Skepticism Library item: 16123

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Publication type: media release

U.S. Sen. Kohl: To hold hearing on conflicts of interest in medical education & research
WSIPolitics.com 2009 Jul 27
http://wispolitics.com/printerfriendly.iml?Article=165533

Full text:

On Wednesday, July 29, U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging Chairman Herb Kohl (D-WI) will hold a hearing on conflicts of interest in the fields of Continuing Medical Education (CME) and other medical research. As with many professions, physicians are required to participate in CME in order to maintain their license. In recent years, the pharmaceutical and medical device industries have increased their funding of CME, as well as other medical education programs, medical schools, and professional medical associations. The industries also pay physicians directly for their service as educational consultants. According to the Institute of Medicine, industry funding for accredited CME quadrupled from $302 million to $1.2 billion between 1998 and 2006.

This influx of funding has raised concerns that CME and other medical research and educational activities, meant to keep doctors updated on the latest scientific advances and best practices in medicine, could be unduly influenced by the pharmaceutical and device industries. The Aging Committee will hear from a number of well-respected witnesses on the topic and consider recommendations for reform of the CME delivery system. The hearing will also highlight the ways in which some organizations are mitigating industry influence, while also enabling legitimate physician-industry relationships to flourish.

Senator Kohl, along with Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), is cosponsor of the Physician Payments Sunshine Act (S. 301), which would require the pharmaceutical and medical device industries to publicly report payments and gifts to doctors. Recently, identical provisions to those in S.301 were included in the health care reform discussion documents released by the Senate Finance Committee. Similar provisions were also included in the House tri-committee health reform bill, which also includes disclosure of industry payments to medical schools, sponsors of continuing medical education programs, and organizations of health care professionals.

WHAT: Senate Special Committee on Aging Hearing

WHEN: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 at 2 p.m.

WHERE: 562 Dirksen Senate Office Building

WHO: Panel One:

Lew Morris, General Counsel, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the

Inspector General

Dr. Steven Nissen, Chair, Cleveland Clinic Department of Cardiovascular Medicine

Dr. Eric Campbell, Associate Professor and Director of Research, Institute of Health Policy,

Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School

Jack Rusley, Chair, Culture of Medicine Action Committee, American Medical Student

Associaion; Student, Brown University Alpert School of Medicine

Panel Two:

Dr. Thomas Stossel, Director, Translational Medicine Division and Senior Physician,

Hematology Division, Brigham & Women’s Hospital; Leadership, Association of

Clinical Researchers and Educators (ACRE)

Dr. James Scully, Medical Director and CEO, American Psychiatric Association (APA)

Dr. Murray Kopelow, President, Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education