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FP Report
October 2001 • Volume 7 • Number 10

AAFP, industry in agreement

Principles for cooperation on gifts, CME guidelines developed

BY CINDY McCANSE

PRINCIPLES FOR COOPERATION

We the undersigned organizations share a common commitment to the primacy of the patient-physician relationship, to patient advocacy, to unimpeded access to health care for all, and to improved lives and better treatment through scientific advances. The relationship between physicians and industry serves to implement state-of-the-art scientific information and technological advances to enable physicians to better care for their patients.

We hereby pledge our full support to the following principles:

  • Above all, we put the health and well-being of the patient first.
  • We will assist physicians in their efforts to educate their patients in all aspects of health care -- including wellness, prevention and treatment -- by providing timely, accurate and balanced information based on scientific evidence.
  • We will adhere to the guidelines established by the American Medical Association on gifts to physicians from industry and by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education on standards for commercial support of continuing medical education.
  • We will work proactively and continually to inform physicians and industry representatives of these ethical standards.
    © 2001 American Academy of Family Physicians

American Academy of Family Physicians
AstraZeneca
Aventis Pharmaceuticals
Eli Lilly and Company
Endo Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Forest Laboratories Inc. and its subsidiary,
Forest Pharmaceuticals Inc.
GlaxoSmithKline
Janssen Pharmaceutica
McNeil Consumer Healthcare
Ortho Dermatological
Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical Inc.
Pfizer Inc.
Pharmacia Corporation
Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals
Welch Allyn, Inc.
Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories

In an unprecedented move to ensure adherence to ethical guidelines governing interactions between physicians, CME providers and the pharmaceutical industry, the Academy and 15 pharmaceutical firms have individually elected to sign onto a joint statement of principles.

The spark for the initiative arose during this summer's AAFP/AAFP Foundation/Industry Executive Leadership Forum, according to AAFP Executive Vice President Douglas Henley, M.D. The meeting is an annual feedback session among members of the executive committee of the AAFP and the AAFP Foundation and industry leaders. This year, it was held June 11 - 13 in Philadelphia.

"The Academy believes very strongly in the intent, purpose and application of the AMA ethical guidelines relating to the interaction between individual physicians and the pharmaceutical industry," said Henley. "AAFP has the same commitment to upholding the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education guidelines relating to the interaction between CME providers, such as the Academy, and industry.

"This issue was discussed at great length during the meeting, and industry leaders asked the Academy to take the lead, develop the principles and challenge industry representatives to sign on. And they have."

"We have received an enthusiastic response from industry," concurred Sandra Panther, executive vice president of the AAFP Foundation. "Overall, companies welcome the idea of partnering with the Academy to convey the message that ethical practices are in place to which they adhere both at the corporate and at the local level."

The agreement consists of a set of four principles, to which all signatories have pledged their support. The text of that agreement is shown in the box at right, as are the names of the companies that had joined the initiative as of Sept. 20.

The opening statement, principles and signatories appear on the front of a pocket-sized card that will be distributed to attendees at the AAFP Annual Assembly Oct. 1 - 7 in Atlanta. On the inside of this folded piece appear summaries of the gifts to physicians from industry guidelines developed by the AMA Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs and the standards on commercial support of CME developed by the ACCME.

This information is also available on the AAFP Web site at http://www.aafp.org/cooperation.

All costs involved in developing and distributing information about the initiative have been funded entirely by the AAFP.

FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department.
Copyright © 2001 by American Academy of Family Physicians.

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