AAO expresses ‘concerns’ with new CME standards

SAN FRANCISCO — The American Academy of Ophthalmology has asked for clarification of new rules regarding conflicts of interest in continuing medical education activities, the AAO said in a press release.

At issue for the AAO are the revised standards approved last month by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education. The AAO is a provider of CME.

The AAO said the new standards were reviewed by the AAO and other subspecialty societies that are “parent organizations” of the ACCME. But the guidelines were issued with “explanatory documents” that were not reviewed or approved by the parent organizations. Of particular concern to the AAO is that anyone having a financial relationship with any commercial interest in a health-related company is precluded from controlling the content of a CME activity.

According to the AAO, the initial draft version of the standards presented in 2003 required that accredited providers “identify and resolve conflicts of interest,” but the language did not exclude committee members, teachers and authors with financial relationships from planning or leading a CME activity. The AAO has requested that the Council of Medical Specialty Societies, of which AAO is a member, investigate this interpretation.

“The leading experts in ophthalmology often work closely with industry to bring new innovations to patients,” said H. Dunbar Hoskins Jr., MD, executive vice president of the AAO, in a press release. “Without this close relationship, we fear innovation and education may proceed at a slower rate. While we applaud the goal of removing commercial bias from medical education, we believe this is over reactive.”

The AAO expressed concern that “limiting what physicians can say in a continuing medical education class is antithetical to the free flow of ideas and vigorous debate.” The ACCME maintains that disclosure of financial relationships is insufficient to resolve conflicts of interest; the AAO stated that this interpretation was written by ACCME staff but not reviewed by the parent organizations.

The ACCME provides two alternatives for resolving conflicts of interest, altering the financial relationship or altering the individual’s control over the CME content, neither of which, the AAO said, is acceptable.

“We cannot and should not ask our faculty to alter their financial relationships,” Dr. Hoskins said. “The idea that anyone with any type of relationship with a commercial interest is automatically tainted is simply wrong.”

The AAO’s position on the new guidelines follows similar objections from the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery; for more on the guidelines click here.

SLACK Incorporated is an ACCME-accredited CME provider. SLACK publishes Ocular Surgery News and the OSN SuperSite.