The front cover of the current BMJ, 19 June 2021, asks if medical education is “in the grip of industry?”
Inside, the feature essay is by Professor Adriane Fugh-Berman. The full article can be read here. What follows are several extracts:
Professor Adriane Fugh-Berman concludes her BMJ essay:
My experience is with psychiatry as I worked as an NHS psychiatrist for 25 years before retiring in 2020. During my career I campaigned for Sunshine Legislation for Scotland. One of the main reasons for this was my concern about the influence of industry in continuing medical education [CME]. The responses of the Scottish Government and the leaders of my specialty disappointed me. The CEO of the Royal College of Psychiatrists has stated that its existing approach to competing financial interests of members is “sufficiently robust” and that Sunshine Legislation “is a matter for the Government to decide”.
Senior UK psychiatrists have also failed to support Sunshine Legislation:
Now that the General Medical Council [GMC] has called for Sunshine Legislation to be introduced , it is time for all of the Royal Colleges to make their positions clear.
