Senate Considers Industry Influence in Continuing Medical Education

By Katherine Mangan

Greater safeguards are needed to protect patients from biased or inaccurate information that might be disseminated in continuing-medical-education courses that are lavishly supported by drug and medical-device manufacturers, an inspector with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told lawmakers at a Senate hearing on Wednesday.

Most states require physicians to complete a minimum number of credits in continuing medical education, or CME, in order to maintain