The Alliance Board Replies to the Institute of Medicine Conflict of Interest Committee

The Alliance, as part of its emergent advocacy campaign, has responded to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) request for input into its study of conflict of interest in medical research, education, and practice.

The IOM, a private nonprofit group that provides analyses and advice on issues involving the public’s health, is part of the National Academy of Sciences.

In 2008, the IOM created the conflict of interest committee to:

•	Examine and describe conflicts of interest between health care professionals and industry
•	Propose principles to inform the design of policies, guidelines and tools to manage conflicts of interest without damaging constructive collaboration with industry
•	Consider methods to disseminate, promote, implement and evaluate the principles.

The committee invited the Alliance, along with other CME stakeholders, to describe its position on conflict of interest. The full Alliance Board approved the position letter, which was submitted to the IOM in April. Sue Ann Capizzi, MBA, President of the Alliance, said, “We are pleased that the IOM recognized the Alliance as being an important organization to provide input to this process. We were conscious in crafting our reply that it be in the best interests of both CME as an enterprise and the 2,400 members that we represent.”

According to Damon K. Marquis, MS, Chair of the Alliance Advocacy Committee, “The newly constituted Advocacy Committee took great pains to look at the issue from many perspectives, and took a reasoned, well thought out stance that neither diminished the significance of concerns raised regarding conflicts of interest nor apologized for the use of individuals with potential conflicts of interest in the development and provision of CME.”

Becoming an advocate for CME is one of the most recent goals of the Alliance Board, pointed out Jann Torrance Balmer, PhD, President-Elect of the Alliance. She said, “The Alliance, as the membership organization for all of the constituencies in continuing medical education, identifies advocacy as an important strategic issue and is interested in candid and thoughtful discussions on these issues important to CME.”

The IOM conflict of interest study is expected to continue throughout this year and will end with the issuance of a report in late 2008 or early 2009. The IOM received support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the American Board on Internal Medicine, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, and the Josiah Macy Foundation to conduct the study.

By Jane B. Eckstein, MA, Editor-in-Chief