Pfizer declares revolution in US medical education funding
pharmafile | July 3, 2008 | News story | Medical Communications, Sales and Marketing |Â Â CME, US, ethicsÂ
A revolution in the funding of continuing medical education is on the cards after Pfizer declared it would no longer do any work with communications agencies in the US market.
The company is responding to growing controversy in the US about the commercial influence the industry can exert through providing education to doctors.
The Institute of Medicine, an authoritative independent voice on US medicine, is currently conducting a review of continuing medical education (CME) with the aim of producing new guidelines.
In particular, the Institute is likely to advise on managing conflict of interest, but Pfizer has now moved to pre-empt the guidelines with its own far-reaching reforms.
Pfizer says it will continue to support CME at many of the world's leading academic medical centres and teaching hospitals, as well as work sponsored by associations, medical societies and community hospitals, in keeping with the shared goal of improving public health.
But it says it will stop with immediate effect all direct funding of US medical education programmes, as provided by medical education and communications agencies.
The company says it will honour existing commitments, but the news will be a major blow to the multi-billion dollar industry that currently supports US medical education.
Med ed practitioners will have to wait anxiously to see if any other companies follow suit in the US, or if the practice will eventually spread to Europe and the rest of the world.
"This move by Pfizer, to my knowledge the first among commercial supporters of CME, represents a significant advance in the profession's ability to address the complex issue of conflict of interest," said Dave Davis, MD, head of Continuing Education and Improvement at the Association of American Medical Colleges.
"Continuing medical education, when done right, improves healthcare provider understanding of disease, expands evidence-based treatment, and contributes to patient safety," said Dr Joseph Feczko, chief medical officer of Pfizer. "We understand that even the appearance of conflicts in CME is damaging and we are determined to take actions that are in the best interests of patients and physicians."
To qualify for its support in the future, Pfizer says CME programmes will have to meet revised, stricter criteria.
These criteria will:
* Eliminate all new direct funding commitments for CME programs by medical education and communication companies (MECCs)
* Initiate a competitive grant review period for grant applicants to encourage more innovative, high-quality grant applications
* Support the medical community's call for balanced funding in CME by establishing financial caps on grant support
* Require all major grant applicants to meet criteria equivalent to ACCME's highest level of accreditation
In addition, Pfizer will continue to publicly report all CME grants provided in the US at www.pfizer.com.
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