University COI Policies and Generic Drugs – The Old Becomes New

Conclusion As we have mentioned before, educating young physicians and physicians in training about COI policies and interactions with industry and pharmaceutical sales representatives is a noble goal and one that should be taken seriously.  However, allowing those faculty and medical school staff who are already critical of industry and have their own personal biases about industry to educate impressionable minds is problematic.  There needs to be balance when educating medical students and residents about COI policies and relationships with industry.  There must be an equal voice for industry so that students can understand the critical and crucial relationships that physician-industry collaboration brings to medical innovation and progress.   If future research is to be conducted on COI policies, such research should evaluate the extent to which such policies adversely affect physician industry relationships, and how such adversity can harm patient care and decrease good patient outcomes.  Moreover, schools with COI policies must ensure that those responsible for training and educating students about COI policies give a fair and balanced presentation of industry relationships.   
Source: Policy and Medicine - Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs