Study: Doctors largely support commercial funding for CME

The healthcare industry may be in an uproar over pharma and medical devicemaker funding for physician activities, but physicians don't seem to be so conflicted, if a recent study is to be believed.

The study, by Manhattan Research, concludes that only 9 percent of U.S. doctors are against commercial support for continuing medical education, and that only 8 percent of physicians who participate in CME believe it's biased. Half of the physicians surveyed by Manhattan Research told researchers that they'd decrease their use of CME if commercial support was halted.

Commercial funding for CME continues to be under challenge within institutions, however. (For example, last summer Stanford University set tough limits [1] on pharmaceutical industry financing of CME there.) Meanwhile, Congress has continued to pressure pharmas and devicemakers to voluntarily disclose [2] CME funding.

To learn more about this research:
- read this press release [3]

Related Articles:
Senate investigates pharma influence on CME [4]
Case study: NY hospital drops pharma CME funding [5]
SPOTLIGHT: Pharma's influence in continuing medical education [6]
Doctors weigh in on the pros and cons of accepting drug/device freebies [7]