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.