Task Force: Ban Sales Reps From Academic Medical Centers

In hopes of tightening conflict-of-interest policies at academic medical centers, a task force organized by the Pew Charitable Trusts has developed a new set of 15 recommendations that are more stringent than what was issued five years ago by the American Association of Medical Colleges. And one of the biggest recommended changes is banning pharmaceutical sales reps from campuses altogether (here are the recommendations). “Effectively implementing strong, well-enforced COI policies at AMCs is critical to ensure that academic medicine can continue to engage in principled partnerships with industry, while protecting the integrity of medical education and practice,” David Korn of the Harvard Medical School and Danny Carlat of the Pew Prescription Project write in the Journal of the American Medical Association (read here). The effort comes amid ongoing concerns that financial relationships between drug and device makers and physicians – medical students, in particular - may unduly influence prescribing and treatment decisions, as well as medical research. The issue, in fact, prompted a probe by the US Senate Finance Committee a few years ago that encompassed universities, in general. The investigation eventually led to the passage of the Physician Payment Sunshine Act, which established procedures for gathering and publishing data containing financial ties between physicians, teaching hospitals and drug and device makers, as well as group purchasing organizations. Containe...
Source: Pharmalot - Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs