In a scathing rebuke to its assessment of conflicts of interest in CME, a trio of accrediting agencies said the Macy Foundation's assertions "reflect concerns that we, as CE accreditors, had 5-10 years ago."

Coalition for Healthcare Communications responds to IMS vs. Vermont with amicus brief.

CBS Evening News and BusinessWeek collaborated on a series titled "Doctors under the influence?," looking at whether speaking and consulting fees paid by pharmas to docs bias their decision-making.

The chairman of the Senate Committee on Aging has written the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) complaining that GlaxoSmithKline, which makes Valtrex, "sponsors CME events which promote testing all pregnant women for herpes."

Pfizer will no longer fund continuing medical education through med ed firms.

A review of literature on the relationship between commercial support and bias in accredited CME, commissioned by ACCME, found "no evidence to support or refute" the assertion that support biases in CME.

Merck's settlement of Vioxx litigation with 29 states included agreements to abide by ACCME policies regarding disclosure of relationships between speakers and companies.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, busted a prominent Harvard child psychiatrist, Dr. Joseph Biederman, and his colleague, Dr. Timothy E. Wilens, for failing to report millions in consulting fees from drug companies

Pfizer followed Eli Lilly's lead in posting a list of $10 million in grants and charitable contributions the company made to medical, scientific and patient organizations during the first quarter of 2008 as "part of an ongoing drive throughout the company to increase transparency."

New York Gov. David Paterson is proposing legislation that would impose a ban on gifts to doctors and require physicians making presentations at CME events to disclose financial relationships with drug companies.