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University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill School of Medicine | |
| City: Chapel Hill | State: NC | |
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Commentary: Inventive samples regulation is a hallmark of the conflicts of interest policies of University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill School of Medicine, which successfully address most of the scored domains. UNC - Chapel Hill assigns responsibility for oversight and enforcement of all sections of the policy document. What is missing from this set of policies is a set of student-specific guidelines, as the current policies are applicable only to staff. While the School of Medicine did communicate that there is a 4th year course in which medical students receive training relating to drug development, marketing and relationships with industry, the submission did not include any materials or a syllabus for the course.
This institution's evaluation was last updated: 6/16/2009 |
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| Gifts & Meals |  |
The School of Medicine prohibits the acceptance of personal gifts, cash, incentives or rebates by institution staff and modest meals may be provided only in connection with educational events. |
| Consulting relationships |  |
School of Medicine staff may enter into contracts with vendors, but they must receive approval from the applicable department chair and complete an "External Professional Activities for Pay" form, which was not provided. The policy language implies a written contract is necessary. |
| Industry-funded speaking relationships | |
As with consulting, the School of Medicine requires pre-approval of all speaking relationships for which the speaker receives compensation. |
| Disclosure |  |
No policy for general disclosure provided. |
| Pharmaceutical samples | |
Although samples are not controlled as strictly as the scorecard recommends, this policy received credit for an inventive approach wherein one designee in each department receives samples for the entire department. If interpreted correctly, this effectively prevents a large portion of doctors from being detailed, but does not address other ways in which samples affect prescriber behavior. |
| Purchasing & Formularies | |
A staff member is not permitted to participate in negotiations with vendors if that staff member has a financial interest with that vendor. Conflicted staff members are, however, permitted to provide professional advice to the selection team. |
| Industry Sales Representatives | |
This policy bans vendors from the School of Medicine unless they have an appointment, and then only in non-patient areas. |
| On-campus Education | |
The School of Medicine regulates accredited events more extensively than it does non-accredited events, where industry sponsors are allowed to provide direct support. The policy does require a centralized fund for CME monies, although it is not clear that monies are thus completely stripped from industry influence. This policy also stipulated that the elements of the event must be chosen by the School of Medicine. |
| Attendance at Industry-Sponsored Lectures & Meetings Off-Campus | |
This policy restricts cash payments, subsidies and rebates for travel in their gifts policy, but allows industry scholarships to educational conferences for staff if the recipient is chosen by the applicable department. |
| Industry Support for Scholarships & Funds for Trainees | |
The School of Medicine provided no policy on scholarships and funds for trainees and students. The scholarship policy assessed in the Off-Site Education section does not apply to students, although it may apply to residents, if the institution considers residents to be staff. |
| Medical school curriculum | |
The School of Medicine indicated that its curriculum contained content relating to drug development, marketing and relationships with industry, but provided no examples of this and did not include a statement regarding relevant curricular content in its policy. |
| Do the policies specify an oversight mechanism? |  |
The responsible party for oversight in each domain is set forth in the Enforcement section. |
| Are there explicit sanctions for noncompliance? | |
This policy outlines possible sanctions for noncompliance. |
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 | Model policy |
 | Good progress toward model policy |
 | No policy, or policy unlikely to have a substantial effect on behavior |
 | Did not report |
 | Policy not relevant to this institution (e.g., does not make purchasing decisions) |
