The annual report of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education
Funding by pharmaceutical and medical device companies to support Continuing Medical Education (CME) activities increased slightly in 2014, after 6 consecutive years of declining spending, according to data released by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education American. The push for more investment was therefore slight, a 2.4% increase to $676 million in 2014, according to the US council's annual report, but significant, as the first reported since 2007. The long line of cuts in the sector the amounts dedicated to this purpose may therefore have stopped. Between sponsored and non-sponsored events, approximately 147,000 CME courses were held overseas last year, for a total of nearly one million training hours organized by 1,900 accredited providers. Most of the funds devoted by the pharmaceutical industry to medical education have materialized in the packaging of educational materials for the web, which can be consulted by the doctor at any time.
But the link between pharmaceuticals and ECM is a theme that has often ended up in the spotlight: the legitimacy of commercial support for courses intended for 'white coats' who then have to prescribe drugs is being questioned. Yet, according to Accme data, this type of financing represents only about a quarter of the total. “The accredited ECM is a healthy and growing company,” observes Graham McMahon, the new president and chief executive officer of the US accreditation agency, in a video introducing the data from the annual report – with a total of 2, $6 billion of investment in 2014 from a wide variety of sources: the majority (61%) is non-commercial."
