Physician and health policy blogger Kevin Pho ponders the consequences of a full-fledged ban on industry sponsorship of continuing medical eduction (CME).
Dr. Pho writes:
Whatever the case, if the industry doesn’t support CME, doctors and medical schools are going to have to pay for it. That means higher course fees for doctors — which will hurt physicians who do not have a CME-allotment as part of their benefits.
Medical societies also won’t be happy, as their conferences will be more expensive to run.
There has to be a solution short of a total ban, because with the CME industry a billion dollar business, there’s simply too much money at stake.
There has to be a solution short of a total ban, because with the CME industry a billion dollar business, there’s simply too much money at stake.
But one of the physician comments to Dr. Pho’s blog caught my eye:
OK let me be the Devil’s Advocate here … we NEED money to produce CME courses – annual meetings, etc. Where are those dollars coming from? Moreover, isn’t it a bit hypocritical that folks in Congress who take far more Lobbyist money than any physicians’ group should complain about industry sponsorship of cme. No, the government will mandate cme, prohibit industry sponsorship, and force yet another Unfunded Mandate down our throats. And you can pry that Viagra pen from my cold dead hand.
How right he is. The move to limit (or outright ban) industry-sponsored CME is not only grossly misguided, it is hypocrisy at its worst.
Some of the foremost proponents of a ban interestingly have no qualms about accepting support from the industry, trial lawyer lobby, etc.
This campaign is simply one aspect of the continuing assault on our nation’s doctors.
