Charge to the Industry Relationships Advisory Committee
As an institution committed to the highest values of integrity and objectivity, the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences have long been in the forefront of actively managing conflicts of interest presented by the personal financial relationships of faculty, staff and students. The challenge of managing these conflicts has grown, and public attention has rightly focused on the subtle influence that even seemingly modest gifts and honoraria can exert. The attached article from the January 25, 2006 Journal of the American Medical Association ("JAMA") sets forth a policy proposal to eliminate many of the most troublesome relationships. We are asking each of you to participate in an advisory committee to recommend a new policy to govern future interactions between industry and the Schools of the Health Sciences and their affiliated clinical practices. We are together charging this committee, to be co-chaired by Drs. Juhl and Barnes, to use the JAMA article as a starting point, but to also consider the role of the University and UPMC in promoting regional economic development in crafting this policy. In addition, this policy should build from existing University and UPMC policies wherever possible. Finally, while the JAMA article offers an excellent foundation, the committee should also consider whether there are other practices, such as industry support of graduate medical education grants for specific fellowships, that should be re-examined to minimize potential for conflict of interest.
We want also to note that we are not alone in addressing this issue: Stanford, Penn, Harvard and other institutions have adopted, or are adopting, policies similar to that described in the JAMA article, and at the recent AAMC meeting in Seattle, a proposal was made to enlist the LCME, ACGME, AAMC, and the various hospital accrediting commissions in formulating a national policy that would be uniform - at least for all academic medical centers.
You will be contacted shortly about the committee's meeting schedule. It is our hope that the committee will be ready to present its recommendations by no later than March 1, 2007. We thank you for your willingness to participate in this important task.
Drs. Arthur S. Levine and Marshall W. Webster