The U's med-ethics policy: One comparison

I wanted to lay some groundwork showing how the University of Minnesota's conflict-of-interest policy has stood compared to others --- before getting an idea of where it's going.

So I consulted the American Medical Student Association's scorecard to get an idea.

It's not great.

The U's policy scored a D in 2008. The association, however, bumped the U's provisional grade to a C based on a draft of the revised policy submitted in 2009. For now, the official grade is merely an I, or In Process -- kind of like getting an Incomplete, I suppose.

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Here are AMSA's notes on the U's progress in the 2009 draft:

Most of the policies regulating conflict of interest at University of Minnesota Medical School demonstrate progress towards a model policy, but could be strengthened further. There are no policies regulating off-site educational events or pharmaceutical samples, and oversight and sanctions for noncompliance are not clearly established.

The U had "model policies" for disclosure as well as purchasing & formularies, but little or no known policy regarding industry sales reps, attendance at industry-sponsored lectures & off-campus events.

In the other areas -- such as use of drug samples, industry-funded speaking relationships and consulting relationships -- the U had "good progress toward model policy."

Here's how some Big 10 schools fared, along with a few others in the region:

University of Iowa: A

University of Michigan: B

Penn State: B

Ohio State: B

University of Wisconsin-Madison: B

Northwestern: C

University of Nebraska: C

Michigan State: I (Provisional grade was a C)

Indiana University: I (No provisional grade available.)

University of Kansas: B

Mayo Clinic: A

Nationally, of the 149 American medical schools surveyed, nine got As (6%), 36 Bs (24%), 18 Cs (12%), and 17 Ds (11%). Thirty-five schools (23%) got Fs -- for having bad policies, no policies, or for refusing to participate.

A spokeswoman for AMSA said the U should be submitting its new policy later this month, and get its 2010 grade back later this year.

The scorecard was developed with the cooperation of The Pew Charitable Trusts.

The U's med-ethics policy: One comparison

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