Medscape discontinues physician education courses funded by tobacco giants

Medical education provider Medscape has bowed to pressure and agreed to permanently remove a series of accredited medical education courses on smoking cessation that were funded by tobacco industry giant Philip Morris International (PMI). BMJ and test i got you.

In a letter to the complainants, the global company acknowledged its “misjudgment” and said it would no longer accept funding from any organizations associated with the tobacco industry.

The move was made following an investigation by. BMJ It revealed the agreement with PMI and the widespread protests among doctors and academics against the partnership.

According to internal Medscape documents reviewed by BMJ and testUnder its multimillion-dollar contract with PMI, Medscape planned to distribute 13 programs called the “PMI Curriculum,” as well as podcasts and “television-like series.”

Other PMI-funded programs with various continuing medical education (CME) providers have also emerged in Saudi Arabia and South Africa.

This apparent global push by tobacco giants towards accredited medical education is causing alarm and calls for accrediting bodies to issue bans.

In response to the criticism, a spokesperson for Philip Morris International said: BMJ“Health organizations around the world recognize the beneficial role that smoking cessation products can play in improving public health. We are concerned that organizations are actively disrupting the use of combustible cigarettes, which is the most harmful form of nicotine use, and has the potential to increase consumption. ”

But Tim McAfee, of the University of California, San Francisco and director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Office on Smoking and Health, calls the PMI-Medscape partnership “more than just a fox tending a chicken coop.” “Example”. But offer to sit on the egg.

“It is a perversion of the ethics surrounding continuing medical education that allows the very companies that are causing and profiting from the spread of tobacco-related deaths and illnesses to be somehow involved,” he said. To tell.

Medscape claims that its course content is fully compliant with standards set by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), but Pamela Ring, director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco, , if so, said. Then standards need to be strengthened to not allow merchants of death to educate doctors. ”

This view is supported by a linked editorial by Ruth Malone, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco, who states that “medical professionals, medical leaders, their associations, and professional organizations should continue to provide continuing medical education for clinicians.'' We must require certifying agencies to enact policies prohibiting sponsored content.” This is from a tobacco-related organization. ”

He added that medical professionals and patient organizations should also warn their members to be aware of efforts by the tobacco industry to influence patient care in favor of its products.

He emphasized that Medscape is not alone in offering CME, and that PMI may not be the only tobacco company working to impact medical professionals in this way, and offers similar services. should be widely publicized and relevant education providers should be informed that tobacco industry sponsorship is unacceptable. .

“The tobacco industry, desperate to secure future profits, cannot allow medical education, health workers and patient care to be affected in this way,” she concluded.