4.2.09 | Mary Vanac

MedCity morning read, Thursday, April 2

St. Vincent Indianapolis Hospital, photo by Denise Cox A group of prominent doctors and researchers on Wednesday urged professional medical groups to “wean” themselves from industry support, according to the New York Times.

In a paper in the April 1 edition of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the doctors’ group recommends a move toward a ban of things like souvenir pens, tote bags — and the sponsorship of committees that set clinical guidelines or training programs – provided by drug and medical device makers.

The recommendations are not binding and would have to be put in place by individual associations, the Times said. The medical profession is wrestling with its longstanding ties with industry and the potential conflicts of interest posed by those ties.

But Wednesday’s recommendations by the group of 11 MDs and PhDs go beyond disclosing financial ties to drug and device companies — a practice that is beginning to be adopted by doctor groups and medical schools. The authors recommend barring members who have financial ties to industry from serving on clinical agenda-setting committees.

“When we write a practice guideline, we are telling our colleagues how they should care for their patients,” Dr. Steven Nissen, one of the authors of the JAMA paper and the cardiologist who chairs the Cleveland Clinic’s cardiovascular medicine department, told the Times. An outspoken critic of doctor-industry ties, Dr. Nissen supports what he calls a “zero dollar” policy — that is, medical associations should take no money from industry.

”If you are one of those patients, you are counting on that guideline to be of the highest caliber, free of any influence,” Nissen told the Times.

The recommendations, which the Boston Globe called “drastic,” mean that big medical groups would have to find other ways to pay for things like continuing education classes for doctors, the Globe said. Some “sacrifices” likely would result, such as fewer clinical events or higher association membership dues, the authors wrote.

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