April 24, 2024

Doctors to be shielded from big pharma’s influence

US doctors who receive drug company funding will be limited in what they can teach their colleagues in continuing education courses. The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education is attempting to limit so-called “stealth marketing” for pharmaceutical companies. In the past, a doctor teaching other doctors would often give glowing reports for drugs and anecdotal experience of “off-label” uses. From now on, a third party with no drug company ties will have to vet a speaker’s recommendations and anecdotal observations will be replaced by results from systematic clinical trials.