Pharmaceutical companies have too much influence on continuing medical education (CME) courses. So argues the national hospitality workers' union, Unite Here, which this week launched a new campaign against the funding of CME courses by "Big Pharma." That funding, it argues, unfairly influences what prescriptions doctors write their patients, which in turn, it says, has increased health care costs for its members, including hotel, casino, and foodservice workers.
"Medical meetings are important to our hospitality industry in Las Vegas and nationally," said Unite Here member Chad Neanover, prep cook at the Margaritaville on the Las Vegas Strip. "We negotiate with our employers to have affordable health care. Unfortunately, this is constantly under attack as health care costs continue to skyrocket and pharmaceutical companies are influencing the medical industry."
According to Unite Here, which cites data from the new Open Payments database -- a federal program that collects and makes public information about financial relationships between the health care industry, physicians, and teaching hospitals -- doctors accepted $4 billion in gifts, cash, and other compensation between 2009 and 2014. Meanwhile, it said, as recently as 2011 pharmaceutical companies spent $736 million on CME courses.
In response to its concerns, Unite Here will spend the summer seeking petition signatures across the United States, encouraging the Accrediting Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to end CME funding by the pharmaceutical industry.
"ACCME has acknowledged in their own report that 'CME activities funded by commercial interests can be effective in changing physicians' prescribing practices,'" said Levi Pine, medical industry researcher for Unite Here. "The fact that Big Pharma and their drug money have so much influence on our doctors is unethical and problematic."
ACCME Responds
In a response to Unite Here's objections, ACCME said that only 11 percent of CME events receive pharmaceutical funding.
"We respect Unite Here's concern about the independence of continuing medical education and we appreciate their recognition of the ACCME safeguards that protect CME from commercial bias," the organization said in a statement. "For more than 20 years, the ACCME standards have served as the bright line separating education from industry influence. Only 11 percent of CME events receive industry funding -- and that funding is tightly controlled by the rules issued by the ACCME, accredited CME institutions, physician leadership organizations, and the industry. There is no evidence that commercial support creates commercial bias in accredited CME, results in inappropriate prescribing, or leads to increased health care costs. In fact, accredited CME supports public-health initiatives to improve quality and safety."
Industry funding of CME might actually be beneficial, ACCME suggested. "There is considerable evidence to show that accredited CME has a positive impact on physicians' ability to deliver high-quality care," it continued, adding that it welcomes input from Unite Here and the signatories of its petition. "ACCME is committed, as it always has been, to monitoring and responding to the changing the health care environment to assure that accredited CME is independent, supports improvements in health care, and serves the public interest. We believe it is in the best interest of health care professionals and the patients they serve to facilitate thoughtful debate about emerging issues related to continuing education. We welcome input from all our stakeholders, including members of the public, and always offer the opportunity for the public to weigh in when we are considering policy changes."
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