New AAMC Task Force to Examine Health Industry Influence on Medical Education

[Guest guest]

New AAMC Task Force to Examine Health Industry Influence on Medical

Education

For Immediate Release

Press Release

Contact: Retha Sherrod

202-828-0975

_rsherrod@..._ (mailto:rsherrod@...)

Washington, D.C., February 21, 2006 - Jordan J. Cohen, M.D., president of

the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges), issued the following

statement today in response to the recent call for the nation's medical schools

and teaching hospitals to take the lead in eliminating conflicts of interest

between physicians and the pharmaceutical and medical device industries:

" At its February meeting, the AAMC's Executive Council examined the

recommendations published in last month's Journal of the American Medical

Association

aimed at minimizing the potentially adverse impact of gifts and other

blandishments from drug and medical device makers on the missions of academic

medical centers. The council responded favorably to the thrust of these

recommendations and voted unanimously to form a high-level task force to build

on the

association's _previous work_ (http://www.aamc.org/research/coi/start.htm) to

provide guidance on managing conflicts of interest.

The task force will be charged to 1) examine, especially, the current

interactions that drug and device makers have with the educational mission of

medical schools and teaching hospitals, and 2) bring forth recommendations

expeditiously for implementing safeguards to ensure that industry marketing

efforts

do not undermine the objectivity of educational programs or otherwise bias

the evidence-based decision making of physicians.

In order to maintain the public's trust and protect patients' interests, it's

imperative that medical educators and the medical profession establish more

effective policies and procedures to minimize conflicts of interest. "

Dr. Cohen was a co-author of " Health Industry Practices That Create Conflicts

of Interest, A Policy Proposal for Academic Medical Centers, " which appeared

in the Jan. 25 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.