July/August 2011 Issue of the ACCME Report now available

Click here to access...and click here to access the June report if you missed it like I did.

March/April 2011 Issue of The ACCME Report Now Available

Click here to access.

Jan/Feb 2011 issue of Medical Meetings magazine

now available online...click here to access.

November/December 2010 Issue of The ACCME Report now online

Included in this issue is the executive summary of the ACCME Board of Directors meeting, held November 18 – 19, 2010.  Click here to access the newsletter.

Nov/Dec issue of Medical Meetings magazine now online

This issue contains an article on team-based continuing education!  Check it out by clicking here.

Health care fraud?

From the New York Times article "Side Effects May Include Lawsuits":

FOR decades, antipsychotic drugs were a niche product. Today, they’re the top-selling class of pharmaceuticals in America, generating annual revenue of about $14.6 billion and surpassing sales of even blockbusters like heart-protective statins.
...
Anointed with names like Abilify and Geodon, the drugs were given to a broad swath of patients, from preschoolers to octogenarians. Today, more than a half-million youths take antipsychotic drugs, and fully one-quarter of nursing-home residents have used them. Yet recent government warnings say the drugs may be fatal to some older patients and have unknown effects on children.
...
Such marketing, according to analysts and court documents, included payments, gifts, meals and trips for doctors, biased studies, ghostwritten medical journal articles, promotional conference appearances, and payments for postgraduate medical education that encourages a pro-drug outlook among doctors. All of these are tools that federal investigators say companies have used to exaggerate benefits, play down risks and promote off-label uses, meaning those the F.D.A. hasn’t approved.
...
Over the next year, the government is adding at least 15 prosecutors and 100 investigators to pursue health care fraud.

Click here to access the NYT article.

September 2010 Issue of the ACCME Report now available

Click here to access.

AMA PRA Booklet 2010 now available

Click here to check it out.

June/July issue of The ACCME Report now available

The report includes a link to the 2009 Annual Report as well as a link to complete a survey.  Click here to access.

AAMC report "In the Interest of Patients...."

From the AAMC press release:

A new report by the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) urges U.S. teaching hospitals to establish policies that manage financial relationships between physicians and industry so that they do not influence patient care. "In the Interest of Patients: Recommendations for Physician Financial Relationships and Clinical Decision Making" provides guidance on how academic medical centers can identify, evaluate, and disclose conflicts of interest in clinical care. 

ACCME provides add'l guidance on appropriate role of industry folks in CME

Click here to access the news release (a link to the additional guidance is provided within the news release).

European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations releases "Leadership Statement on Ethical Practices"

Click here to access the EFPIA press release.

PharmedOut Conference Happening Today!

PharmedOut is at this very moment conducting their conference "Prescription for Conflict: Should Industry Fund Continuing Medical Education?".  Click here to access the conference agenda.  Click here to read Policy and Medicine's blog posting on this conference.

University of Michigan just says no to commercial support of CME

From the New York Times article:

Dr. James O. Woolliscroft, dean of Michigan’s medical school, said leading faculty members “wanted education to be free from bias, to be based on the best evidence and a balanced view of the topic under discussion.”
 ...
The debate over whether the medical profession should develop an industry-free model of postgraduate education is a delicate one. A conference at Georgetown University on Friday, called “Prescription for Conflict,” will highlight the arguments on both sides through presentations by federal health officials, professors from leading medical schools, hospital executives and a Senate investigator.  

Click here to access the NYT article.

ACCME to host town-hall meeting for medical specialty societies

on Monday afternoon, June 28th in the Windy City.  Contact Marcia Martin at ACCME for more information.

June issue of Medical Meetings magazine now available

Be certain to check out CHECKUP WITH EDITOR SUE PELLETIER!  A good read, as they say, for a Friday afternoon...click here to access CHECKUP.

April issue of The ACCME Report

is now online. Check out this informative missive by clicking here.

CMSS Voluntary Code of Ethics for Interaction with Industry

From the CMSS's press release:

The Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS) today announced the release of the CMSS Code for Interactions with Companies. The code provides detailed guidance to medical specialty societies on appropriate interactions with for-profit companies in the health care sector. The voluntary code is designed to ensure that societies’ interactions with companies are independent and transparent, and advance medical care for the benefit of patients and populations. CMSS represents 32 leading medical professional societies, with a collective membership of more than 650,000 U.S. physicians.

Click here to access the press release. Click here to access the code.

Resources on CME

Check out the Top 50 Continuing Medical Education Blogs as defined by Nurse E.D.U. by clicking here. And, gosh, thank you!

March 2010 issue of the ACCME Report

is now available; click here to access.