+ Role of Industry in Clinical Care, Research, and Education
+ Objectives Understand the role industrial development of medical products plays in the advancement of health care including contributions to clinical care, research, and education Be familiar with the various levels of industry’s support to physicians/medical practice and identify those which lead to risk of conflict of interest
+ Role of Industry in Health Care Advancement Advancement in diagnosis and treatment of disease Continuous development and improvement of drugs and devices Financial support for research Unrestricted funding for educational programs especially CME
+ Contributions to Clinical Care Significant contributions to global health programs Contributions to help meet the Millennium Development Goals Delivery of free or low cost drugs to millions of patients around the globe
+ Contributions to Research Biomedical research expenditures by industry exceed those of the federal government 60% of biomedical research is privately funded 70% of this private funding comes directly from pharmaceutical industry
+ Contributions to Education 37% of clinical departments receive funding for resident and fellowship training 50% of continuing medical education (CME) is funded primarily through educational grants provided by the pharmaceutical industry
+ Contributions to Education CME Support
+ Promotional Expenditures In 2002, an estimate of $21 billion dollars were spent in the United States on pharmaceutical promotions 56% on samples 25% on doctors 12.5% on direct-to-consumer advertising 4% on hospitals 2% on journal ads
+ Support to Physicians/Medical Practice In 2002, pharmaceutical companies spent 11.5 billion dollars to provide physicians with free samples In a survey of more than 3,000 physicians: 78% reported receiving samples 83% received meals 35% received reimbursement for CME expenses 28% received payment for consulting or serving on an advisory board or speakers bureau
+ Conflict of Interest (COI) Definition COI may be defined as any situation in which the individual or corporation is in a position to influence or exploit a professional or official capacity in some way for their personal gain or corporate benefit
+ Risk for Conflict of Interest Industry involvement and support has potential to affect decision making of physicians and lead to treatment practices based on factors other than the scientific merit of the product Interactions with pharmaceutical representatives in educational settings have shown to influence the prescribing practices of physicians
+ Risk for Conflict of Interest Only 1% of physicians believe they are influenced by drug company advertising, while 40% believe other physicians are influenced Medical students are potentially subject to the same influence Many academic centers have placed strong conflict of interest policy in place