With the new ACCME Standards for Commercial Support now in play, a lot of CME providers are trying to define just what is and isn't a conflict of interest for those involved in their activities. That's what the first session at the Society for Academic CME was all about, and it was really interesting. The panel, which consisted of Norm Kahn, MD, Murray Kopelow, MD, Nancy Bennett, PhD, and Dave Steward, MD, posed seven different scenarios, and we got to vote on whether or not we thought each case consituted a conflict of interest.
I thought it might be fun to go through them here, too, and see if you all come up with the same answers the group in Boston did. That said, here's the first case they presented:
XYZ Health Science Center determined that expanding its unit for obesity surgery was consistent with local demand and cost recovery. The chief surgeon, a very charismatic speaker, was asked to arrange a series of CME seminars outlining the benefits of surgery at XYZ. Are the institutional business goals consistent with providing area physicians with unbiased information?
Click here to vote on whether this is, is not, or might be a conflict.
Click on "comments" below for the response the SACME participants had to this case. To receive a weekly update, e-mail Sue.
