Rethinking continuing medical education
Continuing medical education has become so heavily dependent on support from drug and medical device companies that the ethical underpinnings and the reputation of the medical profession may be compromised. Continuing medical education is compulsory in Italy, and the Ministry of Health has recommended that local health authorities spend 1% of their total budget on educational activities. Nevertheless, most authorities spend much less than the recommended amount and up to 60% of the money comes from drug companies.
Here, Alfredo Pisacane gives an interesting proposals for limiting the commercial support to continuing medical education including concentrating on small groups, agreeing objectives for educational activities, evaluating providers, health institutions committing resources, making use of new technology, creating a central fund, asking doctors to pay.
BMJ 2008;337:a973 (http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/337/aug14_1/a973)