Harvard Medical School Tightens Restrictions on Health-Care Consulting

Harvard Medical School has imposed new rules aimed at restricting faculty members’ activities that could be viewed as marketing for drug companies and medical-device manufacturers, The Boston Globe reports. Under the new rules, which will be phased in after January 1 and follow other restrictions imposed earlier this year on top officials, the school’s 11,000 faculty members will no longer be allowed to give promotional talks for such companies or accept personal gifts, travel, or meals. Faculty members will also face more restrictions on the money they can earn by consulting for or serving on the boards of health-care companies. “We’re anxious to be viewed publicly as doing what’s in the best interest of our patients,” said Robert Mayer, co-chairman of the committee that came up with the new policy. The National Institutes of Health proposed new conflict-of-interest rules this year after years of complaints from Congressional critics.