As criticism over commercial support for CME continues, a national recommendation on the funding issue is imminent from the Conjoint Committee on CME (CCCME).
Formed in 2009 at the behest of the Institute of Medicine, which called for a national dialogue to assure a CME funding system free of commerical influence. The CCCME is unlikely to declare commercial support problematic, said Dr. Norman Kahn Jr., convener of the group.
Kahn told MM&M that the data are “incontrovertible” that direct financial payments to faculty lead to influence, but a commercially supported CME activity whose faculty have no such ties most likely does not lead to bias. “[W]ithin the context of the firewalls created by the ACCME’s Standards for Commercial Support, it’s the opinion of the profession that if you follow this framework, you can eliminate influence from commercial support,” he said.
Specifics on how to manage conflicts will find their way into the committee’s report, due out in January. A March 17 summit is planned for Chicago.
From the November 01, 2010 Issue of MM+M - Medical Marketing and Media
