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EDITORIAL: Corporate influence: The school should tighten rules governing its relationships with corporations that want to promote their own products...
(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jan. 27--The University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health has a relatively strict conflict-of-interest policy, but that hasn't prevented money from pharmaceutical and medical device companies from pouring into the school, which raises questions about motives.
The Journal Sentinel's John Fauber and Susanne Rust reported Sunday that drug-maker Wyeth Pharmaceuticals spent $12 million to fund a medical education program for doctors that promoted hormone therapy.
The program downplayed the risks of such treatment and touted the benefits, even though a large clinical study was halted the same year the UW program began -- 2002 -- because it was clear that women who took hormone therapy drugs were at increased risk for breast cancer, heart disease, stroke and blood clots.
Wyeth makes Prempro and Premarin, the hormone therapy drugs used in the study. UW and Wyeth, along with a New Jersey firm, formed the Council on Hormone Education, which provided course materials. The university received $1.5 million of the money, and faculty were paid as well.
The UW program seems to have been more about marketing than science. A powerful drug company used a respected medical school to promote a product of questionable value. This strategy is nothing new around the country. A 2007 report by the Senate Finance Committee found "numerous cases over the past three years in which companies had too much influence over the content of supposedly independent educational programs."
Some universities are cracking down. Stanford last year banned companies from designating that their contributions be used for specific types of medical training. The companies are allowed to make general-purpose contributions, but Stanford alone determines what that money is used for.
Robert Golden, dean of the UW school, said Monday that a university task force was examining conflict-of-interest rules and expects to report back soon. Golden says partnerships between business and the school can be fruitful if properly managed, especially in a time of tight state funding. He agrees that marketing activities are problematic.
Some corporate partnerships may make sense, as long as funding streams are transparent. But the university must insulate itself and its faculty from untoward influence that is mostly about selling products.
To see more of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.jsonline.com.
Copyright (c) 2009, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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