Yesterday’s CMPI conference on the current state of continuing medical education addressed the single most important issue relative to industry-sponsorship of CME – it works.
It’s really telling that this is the great unspoken secret.
Well, yesterday it was spoken about – a lot.
George Lundberg, MD (editor-in-chief of the Medscape Journal and former JAMA editor) spoke of “government by consent of the governed” – his point being that physicians overwhelmingly support industry support of CME. Lundberg commented that, "As we say in LA (that's Lower Alabama), if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Tom Stossel, MD (Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School) spoke of “an inquisition of disclosure.” Tom is always so subtle.
Jack Lewin, MD (President, American College of Cardiology) reassured the audience that none of the members of Congress he’s spoken with are considering an industry tithe for CME (which would then be distributed by some high-minded and entirely conflict-free government-anointed body).
Jack's pretty plugged in, but if such a legislative program ever was enacted, perhaps it could be dubebd “PDUFuss."
Dr. Lewin also spoke of the current “run-and-hide” environment of the CME sponsorship debate. How helpful. The denizens of conflict of interest (the so-called “COI-Polloi”) have once again put their own private/political interests in front of the public health. And the result may very well be devastating.
At the end of the day, the most important message coming out of this event was that there are two sides to every story (often more) -- and that all the current binary/good guy-bad guy debate achieves is is to hide the tremendous nuances in how physicians learn (and, ultimately, how patients benefit) from industry-sponsored CME.
The full proceedings of this event (full audio and video, along with all PowerPoint presentations) will be available shortly at www.cmpi.org.
Jack Lewin’s opening slide really summed everything up. Here’s what it said:
“The best interest of the patient is the only interest to be considered.”
William Mayo, MD
Center for Medicine in the Public Interest is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization promoting innovative solutions that advance medical progress, reduce health disparities, extend life and make health care more affordable, preventive and patient-centered. CMPI also provides the public, policymakers and the media a reliable source of independent scientific analysis on issues ranging from personalized medicine, food and drug safety, health care reform and comparative effectiveness.
