Standards for relations of cardiothoracic surgical organizations with industry

Abstract

Most physicians are well aware of the interest the United States Congress, various federal agencies, and state legislatures have shown in the influence of companies that produce drugs and devices on physicians’ use of these products. Recently, the focus on industry’s influence in the health care field expanded to include relations with professional medical societies. In 2009, the Institute of Medicine published a report, ‘‘Conflict of Interest in Medical Research, Education, and Practice.’’ Citing the growing interest in Congress and elsewhere, the authors state, ‘‘Physicians and researchers. and the institutions that carry out medical research, education, clinical care, and practice guideline development must recognize public concerns about conflicts of interest and take effective measures soon to maintain public trust’’ (p 16). Professional societies were named among those institutions. Also in 2009, a group of influential physicians, medical sociologists, and bioethicists published a paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association that focused entirely on medical specialty societies and their relations with industry. The authors made a series of recommendations, several of which were highly controversial. In response to this increasing scrutiny, the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) and The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) charged the Ethics