Avoiding Conflict of Interest in Medicine

Synopsis: A conflict of interest occurs when there is a conflict between the private interests and the official responsibilities of a person in a position of trust.  Anyone involved in patient care is in a position of trust.  Conflict of interests are varied: allowing your name to be put on a publication in which you did not meet the requirement for authorship; accepting remuneration from a pharmaceutical or medical device company for participation in a conference where the company’s slides are used; or accepting food, tickets to sports or other events, travel expenses reimbursement for “continuing medical education meetings”; or even accepting pens, prescription pads or the like with the company’s logo are all conflicts of interest.  Some conflicts of interest can endanger patients.

Speaker: Dr Catherine D DeAngelis is Johns Hopkins University Distinguished Service Professor Emerita, Professor Emerita at the Johns Hopkins University Schools of Medicine (Pediatrics) and School of Public Health (Health Policy and Management),  and Editor-in-Chief Emerita of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association (2000-2011), serving as the first woman Editor in Chief.  She has been awarded seven honorary doctorate degrees and has received numerous awards for humanitarianism and medical excellence, including the Ronald McDonald Award for Medical Excellence, the Catcher in the Rye Award for Humanitarianism by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and a lifetime achievement award by the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC).

From 1990-2000 she was Vice Dean for Academic Affairs and Faculty, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and from 1994-2000 she was editor of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.  Having published over 250 peer reviewed articles, chapters, and editorials, her recent publications have focused on professionalism and integrity in medicine, on conflict of interest in medicine, on women in medicine, and on medical education.  Her major efforts have centered on human rights especially as they relate to patients, health professionals and the poor.

Dr DeAngelis is a former council member and current member of the National Academy of Science, Institute of Medicine (IOM); a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (UK) and has served as an officer of numerous national academic societies including past chairman of the American Board of Pediatrics and Chair of the Pediatric Accreditation Council for Residency Review Committee of the American Council on Graduate Medical Education.

She currently serves on the Advisory Board of the U.S. Government Accountability Office, is a member of the Board of Physicians for Human Rights and serves on the Board of Trustees of the University of Pittsburgh.

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