U.S. Sen. Kohl: To hold hearing on conflicts of interest in medical education & research

From the press release:

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.

Click here to access the press release (and see the list of panel members)!