Governmental attention to grant-supported continuing medical education (CME) has never been higher. This past April, the Senate Finance Committee (SFC) issued its report The Use of Educational Grants by Pharmaceutical Manufacturers. The SFC report was the result of a two-year investigation of CME and concluded that oversight of accredited CME providers is "insufficient to guarantee the required independence" of medical education and that there are still risks of kickbacks, veiled advertising of drugs, efforts to bias clinical protocols, and off-label promotion.
The Office of the Inspector General and Department of Justice have brought—and continue to bring—numerous cases against pharmaceutical and devices companies in the risk areas outlined by the SFC. In addition to those agencies, several states now have their own fraud and abuse legislation and successfully prosecute such actions at the local level.
View Full Article
Journal:
Pharmaceutical Executive, Oct 1, 2007
Copyright:
© Advanstar Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
0 comments:
Post a Comment