Kohl's Statement On JAMA Article Suggesting Professional Medical Associations Reject Drug & Device Industry Funding, USA

Main Category: Pharma Industry / Biotech Industry
Also Included In: Medical Devices / Diagnostics;  Public Health
Article Date: 02 Apr 2009 - 7:00 PDT

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U.S. Senator Herb Kohl, Chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, released the following statement today in reaction to an article in the April edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), in which leading medical professionals called on professional medical associations (PMAs) to cut financial ties with the drug and medical device industries:

"Professional medical associations were created to set standards of medical practice for their field, however the funding of PMAs by drug and device companies raises questions concerning their impartiality. The public should know where these organizations get their money, so that Americans can have confidence in the health recommendations of their physicians."

Senator Kohl has joined with Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) in conducting oversight of the financial relationships between doctors and industry. Kohl has chaired hearings of the Senate Special Committee on Aging and continues to pursue an ongoing investigation of such relationships. Last July, Kohl sought information from the American College of Cardiology about its ties to the Cardiovascular Research Foundation, which receives funding from a variety of medical device manufacturers. Kohl and Grassley followed up with a letter to the Cardiovascular Research Foundation and to research physicians affiliated with Columbia University.

In January, Kohl and Grassley reintroduced the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, which would require companies that make pharmaceuticals, medical device and biologics to disclose payments they make to physicians.

Ashley Glacel
Press Secretary
Special Committee on Aging
Senator Herb Kohl, Chair

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