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Physicians and the Pharmaceutical Industry
Excerpt
A responsible and productive alliance between the medical profession and the pharmaceutical industry is unquestionably beneficial to medical progress. However, not all interactions between the two merit unconditional praise. This position paper addresses controversial issues related to the ethics of physician encounters with industry. The Ethics Committee of the American College of Physicians acknowledges that there may be no easy answers to many of the questions raised by these issues, but it has identified certain areas where specific guidance may be provided to supplement continued reliance on individual physician judgment.
In recent years there has been increasing awareness of ethically
Article and Author Information
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↵* This paper was authored by Stephen E. Goldfinger, MD, and was developed for the Board of Regents by the College's Ethics Committee, whose members for the 1989-1990 term were Lawrence Scherr, MD, Chairman; Arthur W. Feinberg, MD; Richard J. Kahn, MD; Lloyd W. Kitchens, Jr., MD; Mark Siegler, MD; and Lee Dunn, Jr., Esq. (consultant). Ex-officio members of the Committee were Michael Bernstein, MD; Norton J. Greenberger, MD; Eugene A. Hildreth, MD; Edwin P. Maynard, MD; Ralph O. Wallerstein, MD; and John R. Ball, MD, JD. Principal staff support was provided by Lois Snyder, JD and Frank Davidoff, MD. This paper was adopted by the Board of Regents on 13 September 1989.
This position statement has been endorsed by the American Thoracic Society, the American Society of Hematology, and the American Diabetes Association.
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Requests for Reprints: Linda Johnson White, Director, Department of Scientific Policy, American College of Physicians, Independence Mall West, Sixth Street at Race, Philadelphia, PA 19106-1572.
- © 1990 American College of Physicians
