CEJA to study GME funded by drug, device makers

Prioritizing immunizations during crises and the proper ethical role of efficiency in medical care were also discussed at the council's open forum.

By Kevin B. O'Reilly, AMNews staff. Nov. 28, 2005.

Dallas -- Physicians at the Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs open forum held at the AMA Interim Meeting earlier this month were split on whether medical centers should take money from drug and device makers to fund residency slots.

CEJA already was considering whether to tackle the issue of drug and device maker support of continuing medical education when the American Academy of Dermatology in November 2004 announced plans to accept $60,000 from firms such as 3M Pharmaceuticals, Amgen and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals to fund 10 residency slots in dermatology at academic medical centers around the country.

After an outcry from AAD members, in part over the ethical issues involved, the group decided to hold a March 2006 vote on whether to proceed with the plan.

"The problem is that academic research centers have become subsidiaries of the pharmaceutical companies," said Delegate Arthur Gale, MD, an internal medicine physician from St. Louis. "You can see the medical schools need the money. But once they get in, these people start dictating how the money's used. There should be an iron curtain between medical education, research and pharmaceutical money."

Several physicians said that it is difficult to secure a residency in less-profitable specialties, making industry support necessary. Still, they said it would be wise to route the industry money through a foundation or a blind trust to ensure that it didn't have an undue influence on physicians' practices.