ighted section of bulleted information to the prescriber. This would allow quick access to the important details. Such changes could reduce practitioners’ time spent looking for information, decrease medical errors, and improve the medications overall effectiveness.CONTINUED MEDICAL EDUCATION AND THE DRUG REP. Of any issues created by pharmaceutical companies, the solicitation of medical information for lunch, dinner, movies, ball games, and so on, is a very sensitive issue. While it is understandable that all providers need to continue to learn all that they can in their scope of practice, it is also a concern that information, which they obtain, be nonbiased and accurate. It is also a concern that the provider actually receives the education he/she has been sponsored for. The American Medical Association has developed an ethical opinion on gifts to physicians from the healthcare industry. In a report of the Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs that was presented with the Ethical Opinion to the House of Delegates of the AMA on December 3, 1990, the ethical concerns regarding gift giving were listed. The information basically requests that members of the AMA should only accept gifts of insubstantial value that individually that entail benefit to patients, or are related to the physician’s work (e.g., notepads, pens). Continued medical education conferences can be subsidized as long as the conference can contribute to the improvement of patient care. The report does state that subsidies should not be accepted to pay for the costs of travel, lodging, and other personal expenses of physicians attending conferences, nor should compensation for the physicians’ time be rendered. Scholarships are permissible as long as the academic institution makes the selection of students, residents, or individuals who will receive the funds. The final provision is that no gifts should be accepted if there are strings attach...
