Re: Harvard's teaching hospitals finally taking steps to reduce faculty conflicts of interest

[MaryL]

"Susan" <su...@nothanks.org> wrote in message
news:7qc4li...@mid.individual.net...
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> I believe it was last year that Harvard medical students protested that
> all they were being taught was drug company sponsored treatment, instead
> of diagnostic and clinical skills.
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/health/research/03hospital.html?ref=health
>
> "Senior officials at the two hospitals, Massachusetts General and Brigham
> and Women�s Hospitals in Boston, must limit their pay for serving as
> outside directors to what the policy calls �a level befitting an academic
> role� � no more than $5,000 a day for actual work for the board. Some had
> been receiving more than $200,000 a year. Also, they may no longer accept
> stock.
>
> Criticism has been mounting in recent years as the conflicting roles of
> some medical leaders have been disclosed through Congressional
> investigations, lawsuits and reports in the news media. Those disclosures
> have raised questions about bias and the cost and quality of patient care
> at the nation�s medical institutions.
>
> Harvard, in particular, has come under scrutiny from Senator Charles E.
> Grassley of Iowa, a leader of Congressional inquiries into the influence
> of money in medicine.
>
> Partners HealthCare is also forbidding speaker�s fees from drug companies
> for any employee, including nearly 8,000 with Harvard faculty
> appointments. Some other medical schools have taken similar actions in
> prohibiting faculty members from being paid by drug companies to speak
> about their products.
>
> But no other academic medical centers have so restricted participation in
> boards of directors."
>
>
> I don't think the restrictions go far enough, but allowing stock ownership
> in drugs they conduct and review research on all these years???
>
> Susan
>

This sounds like a step in the right direction, but a possibility of $5,000
*per day* is still outrageously high--an open invitation to conflict of
interest.

MaryL