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news.The Association of American Medical Colleges has drafted a proposal to ban drug and medical device companies from offering free food, gifts, travel and ghost-writing services to doctors, staff members and students in medical colleges, reported New York Times.
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The report by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) recommended an independent audit of the medical education seminars given by the faculty to curb the industry’s inappropriate influence. The report also suggested that schools establish centralized systems and implement strict rules for dealing with the free drug samples.
In addition to the gift, food and travel bans, the report also urged the medical schools to discourage faculty participation in industry-sponsored speakers’ bureaus, where doctors are paid to promote drug and device benefits.
According to Rob Restuccia, executive director of the Prescription Project, a nonprofit group dedicated to eliminating conflicts of interest in medicine, the proposed ban will have a far reaching effect on the medical school and industry relations and may transform medical education.
Roy Vagelos, a former CEO of Merck, said: “The outcome of this for the industry is that those companies that are strong in science will always be welcome at medical colleges and others won’t.”