Best Practices for Professional Medical Associations
Professional Medical Associations and Conflict of Interest
The Professional Medical Association (PMA) Task Force, comprised of ten present and former PMA officers along with several biomedical and social scientists, came together in three meetings during 2007 and 2008 in order to identify the major areas of conflict of interest confronting PMAs, devise appropriate guidelines, and to propose best practices.
The Task Force Members included:
• David J. Rothman, PhD, President, Institute on Medicine as a Profession
• Walter J. McDonald, MD, Past CEO, Council of Medical Specialty Societies
• Carol D. Berkowitz, MD, Past President, American Academy of Pediatrics
• Susan C. Chimonas, PhD, Research Scholar, Center on Medicine as a Profession
• Catherine D. DeAngelis, MD, MPH, Editor in Chief, JAMA
• Ralph W. Hale, MD, Executive Vice President, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
• Steven E. Nissen, MD, Past President, American College of Cardiology
• June E. Osborn, MD, Past President, Josiah Macy, Jr Foundation
• James H. Scully, Jr., MD, Medical Director and CEO, American Psychiatric Association
• Gerald E. Thomson, MD, Past President, American College of Physicians
• David Wofsy, MD, Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco
The results of the Task Force’s deliberations appeared in the April 1, 2009 issue of JAMA in an article titled Professional Medical Associations and Their Relationships with Industry: A Proposal for Controlling Conflict of Interest.