The Canadian Medical Association is facing criticism over its decision to team up with a major pharmaceutical company to create an education program for physicians across the country.
Some members of the medical community say the CMA is heading down a dangerous road and warn that partnering with Pfizer Canada Inc. may cross a serious ethical line that could negatively influence doctors' treatment decisions.
“My feeling is that the pharmaceutical industry has no business at all educating doctors,” said Arnold Relman, professor emeritus at Harvard Medical School and former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine. “There's no question that if you're paying the piper, you influence the tune that the piper is going to play.”
The editor-in-chief of the Canadian Medical Association Journal argued in an editorial published last year that industry-funded physician-education programs are “unacceptable” and that a major overhaul is needed to ensure there is no hint of industry influence in educational programs.
“Physicians are seen as being aligned with the pharmaceutical industry and with its commercial priorities,” Paul Hébert wrote in the March, 2008, editorial. “We seem to have conveniently forgotten that the pharmaceutical industry is in business to make money, not to educate health professionals.”
Dr. Hébert sent a statement by e-mail Wednesday saying the medical association is a separate entity from the journal and that he is “not ready to comment on this specific initiative as I don't have all the salient information.”
It's the second controversy to emerge in recent weeks involving Pfizer Canada and ties to a health organization. One of the company's senior executives was recently appointed to the governing council of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, a federal agency.
Under the new CMA initiative, Pfizer Canada said it will provide $780,000 to fund the new “continuing medical education” or CME program, designed to inform physicians of new developments in medicine and help maintain their skills. Two Pfizer staff members will also sit on an administrative board, responsible for overseeing, implementing and evaluating the program, along with two staff members from the medical association and two individuals from outside organizations.
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
Medical association takes heat for Pfizer funding - The Globe and Mail
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