Sen. Grassley (R-Iowa) has asked 33 professional and disease-oriented organizations (Derm, Ophthalmology, Urology, Ortho, Neuros, AHA, etc) for information about the financial backing they get from the pharmaceutical, medical device and insurance industries as part of his effort to ensure transparency in medical associations’ relationships with industry.

The ACC has been asked to participate in an American Association of Medical Society Executives (AAMSE) conference call with leaders from those 33 groups to share our own experience responding to Sen. Grassley’s requests. The ACC has been a leader in transparency in our relationships with industry, publicly posting all our funding sources on our Web site and spearheading the development of standard guidelines for medical societies’ relationships with industry.

Congress is entirely focused on transparency and full disclosure. Along with the Dept. of Justice, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), they are not asking that there be no industry funding of CME, expos, journal ads, grants, etc. We in the profession are doing that to ourselves in some instances, apparently feeling we cannot manage such relationships. We can. And these inquiries need not be feared. More clear transparency is needed.

*** Sen. Grassley. Photo from Wikimedia Commons. ***

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