Cost of a Free Lunch

Fortunately for my guest at lunch at the ACR meeting, I left my PowerPoint slides at the hotel. Not only did I not have the opportunity to bore him and ruin an otherwise pleasant meal, but I also did not have to bring anybody along to review what I had to say before I said it. I did not even have to offer a post-prandial evaluation of my conversation.

Dr. Cronstein is Paul R. Esserman professor of medicine at NYU School of Medicine in New York.

References

Pear R. Medicare, in a different tack, moves to link doctors’ payments to performance. New York Times. December 12, 2006.
Davis D, O’Brien MAT, Freemantle N, Wolf FM, Mazmanian P, Taylor-Vaisey A. Impact of formal continuing medical education: Do conferences, workshops, rounds, and other traditional continuing education activities change physician behavior or health care outcomes? JAMA.1999;282(9):867-874.
Steinbrook R. Commercial support and continuing medical education. N Engl J Med. 2005;352(6):534-535.

Transparency in industry relationships

Revised CMS policy on payments, transfers of value to physicians incorporates exemption for continuing medical education

Money received from industry by physicians who can influence medical practice by their research, opinions, or roles in decision-making bodies should be clearly and fully disclosed

The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the most prestigious awards in the world because it recognizes individuals and organizations that promote the causes of peace and human rights. In 1991, Aung San Suu Kyi received this prize for her courageous work in advancing democracy in the Republic of Myanmar. Because of her leadership of the democracy movement in Myanmar, the military regime that governs that country has gone to great lengths to gag her. Indeed, she has been under house arrest for most of the last two decades since she received the Peace Prize. An outpouring of support for Aung San Suu Kyi and demands for her freedom by human rights advocates and Western governments have sadly been to no avail.

References

What You See Is What You Get: Transparency in Industry relationships

What the Physician Payment Sunshine Act & Open Payments Database Mean in Practice

Ethical Concerns Influence What Constitutes Clear and Full Disclosure for Physicians

Tear Down That Wall: CME restrictions stifle speeches

References

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