[paula_w]

From: Kaisernetwork.org

Several Georgetown University School of Medicine staff members have launched a Web site that provides no-cost continuing medical education programs for physicians seeking alternatives to pharmaceutical company-sponsored CME, the Washington Post reports. The project, called PharmedOut, includes more than 200 online classes that fulfill continuing medical education requirements, usually mandated by law for physicians renewing their medical licenses.
PharmedOut is one of about two dozen programs funded by a $21 million grant from the Attorney General Consumer and Prescriber Grant Program that are intended to teach physicians and nurses to more critically evaluate information from pharmaceutical companies about prescription drugs. Many of the classes listed on the Web site are sponsored by federal agencies like FDA and NIH. According to the Post, some physicians believe industry-sponsored CME "creates an inherent conflict of interest for physicians at the expense of patients who risk being prescribed drugs they may not need or cannot afford." Adriane Fugh-Berman, an associate professor at Georgetown's department of physiology who helped launched the Web site, said that although CME programs run by drug companies do not overtly market their drugs, "there are messages that help the drug companies" convince physicians that a disease or condition is underdiagnosed and best treated with a prescription. "If you're a doctor, you can refuse to see drug reps in your office, but you can't avoid CMEs," she said. About $1 billion of the $1.7 billion spent annually on CME comes from drug companies. Fugh-Berman believes CME courses should be funded by doctors, "not ... a third party whose profits are directly related to prescribing behavior."
Scott Lassman, senior assistant general counsel of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, defended the industry's role in CME and said the content of CME programs is "completely independent" and not designed by drug companies. The companies fund the programs because "they feel it is an important part of medical education" and a "corporate responsibility," Lassman said (Boodman, Washington Post, 1/23).

[paula_w]

This is a great site.

http://www.pharmedout.org/

Here's one of the blogs it links to.

http://www.bioethicsforum.org/20060823afughberman.asp

Paula