News from the AMA

The presentation materials from the 20th Annual Conference of the National Task Force on CME Provider/Industry Collaboration have been posted online. My suggestion, at least check out the keynote slides. Click here to access these materials.

And the Summer/Fall issue of the AMA's CPPD newsletter has been posted online as well. Click here to access the newsletter.

ACCME to post additional information on providers

From the New York Times article "Steps to Greater Accountability in Medical Education":

Dr. Murray Kopelow, chief executive of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, said he would make public “within weeks” a previously confidential listing of classes and companies that violated rules against commercial bias.

And at the urging of a prominent critic who successfully filed a complaint alleging bias in a specific course, Dr. Kopelow said his group was reviewing a proposal that would require educators to notify doctors and furnish corrective materials whenever it is later found that the class material was biased in favor of a drug firm.
...
A council spokeswoman, Tamar Hosansky, said the only violations to be posted on the Web site would be those initiated and resolved since February, when the council notified providers that it reserved the right to make the information public.

Click here to access the NYT article.

"Push"

From the Los Angeles Times article "Doctor who treated octuplets mom ejected from Society of Reproductive Medicine":

The Beverly Hills fertility doctor who treated octuplets mom Nadya Suleman has been expelled from the American Society of Reproductive Medicine for a "pattern of behavior" detrimental to the industry, a spokesman for the association confirmed Monday.

Click here to access the LA Times article.

He's back!

Yep, Pharmalot is back!!!!! Click here to access this excellent blog on the pharmaceutical industry.

"Well doggies"

Check out the blog posting "Nemeroff, Seroquel, and ACCME" at the Health Care Renewal blog! An excerpt:

On December 23, 2008 I filed a formal complaint about Dr. Nemeroff’s program with ACCME. My bill of particulars was lengthy, detailed, and backed up by extensive materials. In due course, ACCME investigated the complaint and found that the program did violate ACCME standards. With respect to content, ACCME determined that Dr. Nemeroff’s program lacked sufficient information about possible adverse effects of treatment with atypical antipsychotic drugs; and failed to emphasize sufficiently the efficacy of alternative treatments. With respect to commercial bias, ACCME determined that bias existed as a result of the absence of contrasting therapy data, and through downplaying the drawbacks related to treatment with atypical antipsychotic drugs in depressed patients.

Click here to access this blog posting. Hat tip to the Carlat blog. And if you recognize the quoted phrase, we're "in tune".

Orthopedists and disclosure

From the Wall Street Journal article:

Orthopedists failed to disclose over 20% of the payments they receive from makers of hip and knee replacements when presenting research related to the companies' products, a new study found. The finding, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, comes amid growing legislative efforts to require medical companies to disclose payments made to physicians, and researchers to alert the public to potential conflicts of interest that may color how doctors treat them.
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"We were a little surprised at how high the nondisclosure rate was," said Dr. Kocher, who attended the meeting. "Some of that might have been intentional and perhaps people shouldn't be trusted, but I think the big part is it's very confusing how self-disclosure happens now in scientific meetings and in journals."

Joseph Zuckerman, a New York University doctor who serves as the orthopedist society's president, said the group had significantly tightened its conflict-disclosure policies since the 2008 meeting.

Click here to access the WSJ article (sub. req.). Click here to access the NEJM article.

"FDA Alert: New USP Standards for Heparin Products

Adjustments may be needed to achieve desired anticoagulant effect in some patients New Heparin to Ship Starting October 8" Click here to access the FDA news release.