The American Medical Association is urging medical school deans and doctor-training programs to incorporate in their curriculums the organization’s ethical guidelines related to drug industry gift-giving.
The action, approved this week by the AMA’s policymaking House of Delegates, builds on an educational campaign the organization launched last year to remind the nation’s physicians of its own ethical guidelines about what is acceptable.
Drug industry gift-giving to physicians has come under intense scrutiny by prosecutors, lawmakers and consumer groups, which are examining whether marketing practices influence doctors’ prescribing habits. Meanwhile, the nation’s bill for prescription drugs is rising an estimated 17 percent annually and insurers see drug company marketing practices as a key driver.
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The AMA delegates thought they needed to do more to educate the nation’s aspiring physicians, who are regularly wined and dined by drug companies that try to woo doctors at the earliest possible age.
“That’s where it starts,” said Dr. Frank Riddick, a New Orleans endocrinologist and chairman of the AMA’s Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs at the organization’s annual meeting this week, which runs through Thursday at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.
The AMA guidelines, which are voluntary, say any gifts should “primarily entail a benefit to patients and should not be of substantial value.”
Subsidies should not be accepted to pay for the “costs of travel, lodging or other personal expenses of physicians attending conferences or meetings, nor should subsidies be accepted to compensate for the physician’s time.”
If physicians accept gifts, they should be worth less than $100 and “benefit patients,” the guidelines say. Acceptable gifts include textbooks or drug samples.
Retirees join up: Although the American Medical Association continues its struggle to keep practicing physicians as members, the Chicago-based group has done a good job of attracting retired doctors, according to a new report.
The AMA said the number of retired physicians in the organization grew 4 percent last year, to 39,058 from 37,564.
Meanwhile, total membership was down 4.2 percent, or 12,055, to 278,302.
All categories of practicing physicians and resident doctors-in-training declined, according to the report. The category of “young physicians” who are 40 and under fell the most, dropping 11.3 percent to 28,110 last year.
The AMA did, however, see some hope for the future with a 3.6 percent increase in medical student memberships. Still, medical students only pay $20 in dues a year, compared with $420 for regular memberships. Retired members pay $84 in annual dues.
Humana names Chicago chief: Humana Inc. has named Julius Alberico to the new post of chief executive of the Chicago market.
The Louisville-based managed-care plan said Alberico, 53, will be in charge of Humana’s strategy and marketing.
Alberico joins the company from New York Life’s Chicago office, which Humana said he has run since 1999. Before joining New York Life’s Chicago operation, Alberico served as executive vice president at NYLCare Health Plans in New York from 1995 to 1999.
Humana said David Jarboe, 48, will continue to serve as president of Humana’s Chicago region, focusing on the day-to-day operations of the company here, reporting to Alberico.
The Chicago market is Humana’s largest, with more than 700,000 enrollees.