Conflict of Interest

The Standards for Integrity and Independence in accredited continuing education consider financial relationships to create actual conflicts of interest in CME when individuals have both a financial relationship with a commercial interest and the opportunity to affect the content of CME about the products or services of that commercial interest.

For example:

• a physician has received a grant from a pharmaceutical company to examine the potential impact of an agent on treatment of a specific rare disease.
• The physician participates in departmental grand rounds and is scheduled to deliver a presentation on new guidelines related to the condition.
• The physician must disclose the research grant (and any other financial relationship that s\he maintains with a commercial entity) and the course planner or planning committee must review the content of the presentation to ensure it is free of any commercial bias and is based on best available medical evidence.
• If the planner determines that there may be an issue with the presentation, we must discuss how to remedy the situation - and we'll discuss how on the following pages.
• If the planner determines that the content is free of bias, bears no relationship to the presentation, or makes some other adjustment to resolve the conflict, then the presentation can go ahead with appropriate disclosures made to the participants for both the presenter and the planner. 

Financial relationships are considered relevant if financial benefit has accrued to any person involved in the CME activity within the last 24 months.

Financial benefit includes salary, any ownership interest (e.g. stock), consulting fees, honoraria, royalties, or other financial benefit.

Mitigation is Critically Important

Mitigation is important because the stakes are so high. Physicians must be able to trust that the information they receive is based on the best available evidence, supports safe and effective patient care, and is not clouded by a monetary interest.

As a provider we must work with activity planners and presenters to ensure that all CME activities meet our clinical content validation policy:

1. All the recommendations involving clinical medicine in a certified activity must be based on evidence that is accepted within the profession of medicine as adequate justification for their indications and contraindications in the care of patients.
2. All scientific research referred to, reported, or used in a certified activity in support or justification of a patient care recommendation must conform to the generally accepted standards of experimental design, data collection and analysis.
3. Activities cannot promote recommendations, treatment, or manners of practicing medicine that are not within the definition of CME, or known to have risks or dangers that outweigh the benefits or known to be ineffective in the treatment of patients.
4. Activities or programs devoted to advocacy of unscientific modalities of diagnosis or therapy cannot be certified for credit.