Healthy Skepticism Library item: 19780

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

Sara G, Prior N
Drug Companies and CME: Prohibition, Declaration or Engagement?
Australas Psychiatry 2000 Sep; 8:(3):195-198
http://apy.sagepub.com/content/8/3/195.full

Abstract:

How should we approach pharmaceutical industry involvement in CME activities? Like similar organisations, we currently have a set of rules with which there is probably both broad agreement and broad noncompliance. We have at least three choices. We may accept this status quo. We may adopt a more rigorously restrictive approach. We may instead put less emphasis on regulation and more on strategies such as transparency, engagement and education. This paper does not argue for a particular one of these choices. Instead we outline some of the advantages and disadvantages of each.

The paper has been prepared on behalf of the College’s CME committee as a first step in redrafting our current ethical guideline. None of the strategies outlined has been endorsed by the Committee or the Board of Practice Standards. A fax-back form has been included with this edition of Australasian Psychiatry – please take a moment to complete it.