EDITORIAL; Cleaning Up Medical Advice

“EDITORIAL; Cleaning Up Medical Advice - http://nyti.ms/buar13”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/01/opinion/01sat3.html

"But it goes only part way in protecting the integrity of medical practice guidelines that help doctors decide what treatments or tests to use. Industry could no longer help pay for developing the guidelines or their initial dissemination, but it could pay for further distribution. The chairpersons and most members of panels developing such guidelines would have to be free of conflicts of interest. Why not require that of all panel members?

The code also allows companies to help finance “continuing medical education" programs that most doctors must take to retain their licenses — provided the societies, not the companies, pick the topics, speakers and content. The code should have completely eliminated industry financing and found other resources or required doctors to pay the full cost of their continuing education."

No need to be so squeaky clean. The industries can pay for whole programs without editorial input. The politics of financing should not influence content.