Healthy Skepticism Library item: 17278

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

Hopkins Tanne J
Few US medical schools and medical centres are disclosing industry ties
BMJ 2010 Feb 23;
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/340/feb23_2/c1075

Abstract:

Few of the leading medical schools and hospitals in the United States tell the public about their academic members’ ties to the drug and device industry, although more institutions now require members to disclose this information to them, say the American Medical Student Association and the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Prominent academic physicians who have not told their institutions about lucrative consulting arrangements with drug and device companies have been headline news in recent years in the US (BMJ 2009;338:a3188, doi:10.1136/bmj.a3188; BMJ 2009;339:b2725, doi:10.1136/bmj.b2725).

The trend is toward greater disclosure, said Kim Cunningham, a spokesperson for the American Medical Students Association. The association has compiled a scorecard of US medical schools’ disclosure practices (www.amsascorecard.org). First published in June 2009, the scorecard is updated as new information comes in.

Only seven medical schools have received the highest grade, for disclosing past and present . . .