Leaders working with 10 professional medical societies, representing the 10 costliest disease areas, received some $130 million dollars from industry over about a five-year period, according to a study published May 27 in BMJ. Broad variation was found across the societies, which included the ACC, with median amounts ranging from $212 to $518,000.

The majority of funding supported research at institutions where the leader worked, followed by support for consulting, royalties and hospitality. The study looked at society leadership for 2017-2019 and included the four years preceding and one year following their leadership.

"The ACC and its physician leaders maintain ethical relationships with industry partners, including leading roles as primary investigators on clinical trials, to further our mission to transform cardiovascular care and improve heart health," says ACC President Athena Poppas, MD, FACC. "We collaborate with industry, including unrestricted, multivendor financial support, following highest standards of oversight, transparent structure and unbiased management. With safeguards in place, industry helps support and advance cardiovascular research, cardiovascular workforce training, foster practitioner diversity, and optimize the delivery of care, as well as the sharing of education and knowledge around the world."

While the study used the U.S. Sunshine Act's Open Payments system as their data source, there was no information about the firewalls installed by each medical society or their governance for relationships with industry for individual members working on committees or for the society as a whole. For example, the ACC in 2008, well ahead of the 2013-mandated Open Payments system, established its stringent Principles for Relationships with Industry. Coupled with the College's Best Practices, clear guidance is provided to ensure transparency and that industry support has no influence on educational or scientific content. (Specifics are available here.)

"ACC knows that bias can exist, so we have developed strict firewalls and principles to govern and monitor these relationships to ensure the integrity of our clinical guidance and education," says Poppas. "This includes a robust and transparent Principles for Relationships with Industry policy, mandatory disclosure of all of our members' health care relationships, and criteria for guiding partnerships, endorsements and affirmations of value related to clinical documents led by other cardiovascular societies. All policies and disclosures are publicly available."

Clinical Topics: Cardiovascular Care Team

Keywords: Disclosure, Societies, Medical, Financial Support, Information Storage and Retrieval

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