Cephalon reported 2009 payments to physician consultants and speakers, as required by a corporate integrity agreement. The CIA was imposed as part of a $444 million settlement of an off-label marketing case in 2008. The report shows that the company’s top-paid physician earned $149,900 in 2009, 17 earned over $100,000 from the company last year.
John Hopkins’ Dr. Todd Dorman wrote in the AMA’s CPPD Report that CME was enjoying a “usual state of good health until media, government and regulatory agencies began to question the veracity of CME programs and the transparency of their process.” Dorman, associate dean and director of the school’s office of CME, said CME suffers from “a case of systemic inflammatory response syndrome,” with investigations casting a pall on CME funding and programs instead of the few physicians that have improperly reported payments.
The ACCME issued a call for comment on a proposal for balancing transparency and confidentiality in the complaints and inquiries process by which ACCME investigates issues of commercial bias or content validation. The group has gotten conflicting feedback—some arguing for transparency, others for more confidentiality.
From the March 01, 2010 Issue of MM+M - Medical Marketing and Media
