Miller School Receives Highest Grade for Conflict of Interest Policy
The Miller School has become the first medical school in the state to receive an ‘A’ grade from the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) for its conflict of interest policies regarding interaction between students or faculty and the pharmaceutical industry, improving one letter grade from last year.
According to the AMSA PharmFree Scorecard, only 19 out of 152 U.S. medical schools received the highest mark, including such institutions as Johns Hopkins, Stanford and the University of Pennsylvania.
Calling the Miller School’s conflict of interest policy a model policy, AMSA said it “displays all outside activities by faculty on a publicly accessible website. Gifts (except to patients) and samples are prohibited, regardless of nature. Industry representatives may only meet with faculty by appointment. Responsibilities regarding compliance, and appropriate course of action for violation of policies is outlined.”
“The increase in grade is the result of the updated changes that the University of Miami Medical Group made to its Pharmaceutical/Device Representative Interaction policy under the leadership of Miller School Dean Pascal J. Goldschmidt,” said Jorge Guerra, M.D., associate vice president for clinical affairs and chief medical officer for the University of Miami Medical Group.
The Miller School’s conflict of interest policy was developed by the University of Miami Medical Group’s clinical operations committee, which included Kenneth Goodman, Ph.D., professor of medicine and director of the Bioethics Program, and approved by the UMMG executive committee in its current form in July 2009. In March of this year, the Miller School launched a publicly accessible website detailing outside professional activities disclosed by medical school faculty. The database is user friendly and easy to search by company or by faculty member.
“We are proud to be recognized among the growing number of leading academic medical centers that have chosen to enhance their conflict of interest policies,” said Dean Goldschmidt, who is also Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs and CEO of the University of Miami Health System. “Ensuring a culture of complete transparency is the next logical step in the contract of trust we have with our patients and community.”
To participate in the survey, each medical school was required to submit its conflict of interest policy, and then each policy was evaluated on such measures as restrictions on gifts, paid speaking for products, acceptance of drug samples, and industry-funded education. AMSA developed the methodology for the scorecard with the Pew Prescription Project, which works to promote consumer safety through reforms in the approval, manufacture and marketing of prescription drugs.
