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'Pharma-free' CME

Many pharmaceutical companies provide Continuing Medical Education (CME) for prescribing physicians. Although these programmes run by drug companies do not overtly market their drugs, physicians may get the impression that a disease or condition is underdiagnosed and best treated with a prescription. Following on from the previous column about the influence of pharmaceutical companies on medical research[1] there is now a resource listing ways for physicians to complete their CME credits without being influenced by the bias of drug companies.

The online resource, PharmedOut[2] is an independent project run by Georgetown University School of Medicine staff members for physicians and other prescribers:

"Our goal is to disseminate information about how pharmaceutical companies influence what we prescribe, to increase access to unbiased information about drugs, and to encourage physicians to choose pharma-free CME."



PharmedOut is one of more than 20 programmes funded by a $21 million grant from the Attorney General Consumer and Prescriber Grant Program[3] that are intended to teach physicians and nurses to more critically evaluate information from pharmaceutical companies about prescription drugs. Ironically the funding for the grant comes from a drug company, a settlement from a court case about unlawful marketing of a drug:

On May 13, 2004, Warner-Lambert, a division of Pfizer, Inc., entered into an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance/Discontinuance with the Attorneys General of 50 States and the District of Columbia to settle allegations that Warner-Lambert conducted an unlawful marketing campaign for the drug Neurontin® that violated state consumer protection laws. Among other things, the settlement provides for a $21 million Consumer and Prescriber Education grant program to be administered by a Special Committee of State Attorneys General pursuant to an Oregon Court Order and an Attorney General Memorandum of Understanding.



The grant will fund programs designed to provide health care professionals and consumers information relating to prescription drugs, including the way in which drugs are marketed.

Mini syllabi available on PharmedOut include:

* Your Friendly Drug Rep

* Why You Get Samples

* Industry Sponsored Research

* Disease Mongering

* Direct to Consumer (DTC) Promotion

Resources also include many links to other websites of similar organisations. The CME suggestions include the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) video lecture series,[4] along with many other options.

Follow up:

References

1. Greenfield, T. "Drug trials should also answer clinical questions." WEBlog on www.dadamo.com</i>

2. "Pharma-Free CME" PharmedOut website: www.pharmedout.org<br />
3. "The Attorney General Consumer and Prescriber Education Grant Program" website: www.ohsu.edu/cpgp/<br />
4. Complementary and Alternative Medicine Online Continuing Education Series NCCAM website: nccam.nih.gov

This entry was posted on January 29th, 2007 at 02:06:00 pm and is filed under Tom's Earlier Blogs.

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