Whereas, The services of the pharmaceutical industry are So vital to the public and the medical profession that an objective study, appraisal and report should be made of this entire problem by a competent professional agency; therefore be it Resolved, That the Board of Trustees of the American Medical Association be authorized to establish a special commission which shall make a comprehensive study of the pharmaceutical industry in the United States, with special reference to the research, development, control and marketing of the medicaments essential to the modern practice of medicine: and be it further Resolved, That this commission comprise representatives of the several major branches of clinical research and medical education, of the pharmaceutical industry and such other groups or agencies that may be appropriately represented; that this commission be adequately staffed and supported so that it may anticipate the submission of a report to the House of Delegates of the American Medical Association at its next annual meeting in June 1961." The AMA House of Delegates adopted the following report with regard to the above resolution (June 1960:111): "Your reference committee read and discussed resolution no. 47 and listened to discussion from delegates at its meeting. The committee is in accord with the idea behind this resolution. Since it is informed that the American Medical Association has resources within its organization to implement the study referred to in the resolution, your reference committee offers the following substitute resolution: Whereas, Current legislative investigations of the pharmaceutical industry have created doubts and questions in the public mind concerning the development, testing, approval, pricing, and marketing of drugs; and Whereas, Certain proposals have been made which, if carried out, might impair the future of pharmaceutical research and development, thus retarding the progress of scientific therapy; and Whereas, The services of the pharmaceutical industry are so vital to the public and to the medical profession that an objective study should be made; therefore be it Resolved, That the Board of Trustees be directed to request the Council on Drugs and other appropriate councils and committees of the Association to study the pharmaceutical field in its relationship to medicine and the public, to correlate available material, and after consultation with the several branches of clinical medicine, clinical research, and medical education and other interested groups or agencies, submit an objective appraisal to the House of Delegates in June 1961." The AMA House of Delegates adopted the following report and (1) encouraged the Board of Trustees "to continue the present work which is being done by the Association, through various councils and committees, relative to the subject of this report;" (2) suggested that the Association avail itself of my information in this field and evaluate and disseminate it to the profession through proper chanm ls (Proceedings of House of Delegates, December 1960, now at printers): "The Board of Trustees has carefully considered substituts resolution 47 adopted by the House of Delegates in Mani. Beach, June 1960. The Board agrees that current legislative investigations of the pharmaceutical industry have created doubts and questions in the public mind concerning the development, testing, approval, pricing, and marketing of drugs; that certain proposals have been made which, if carried out, might impair the future of pharmaceutical research and development, thus retarding the progress of scientific therapy, and that the services of the pharmaceutical industry are so vital to the public and to the medical profession that an objective study should be made. It is the intention of the Board to maintain an active interest in the legislative proposals which may stem from the current congressional investigations of the pharmaceutical industry and to present the position of the American Medical Association on any proposals which affect the private practice of medicine." 73753 0-61-pt. 2--10 No. 15. Resoluti ne on Undesirable Activities "Dr. James Z. Aprel, for the Pennsylvania delegation, introduced the following resolutions, which were referred to the Heference Committee on Amendments to the Constitution and Bylaws: "Whereas, A high ethical code has for many centuries afforded Patients and the community a high standard of medical practice; and "Whereas, It is part of our medical code to exert some control over the ethical standards of all persons and organisations contri. buting to the care of the ill; and "Whereas, Some undesirable activities by groups related to the welfare of such persons are occurrin; and "whereas, Medicine in its efforts to protect the public condemns the over-enthusiastic and premature reports of medical treatments; and "Whereas, There is an incressing trend for publicising premeturely in nonmedical publications the discovery of new drugs before they have been fully tested or even are generally available for use by physicians; and "Whereas, There is a growing tendency for pharmaceutical organisations to spend large sums of money entertaining members of medical societies; and "Whereas, There is also a growing tendancy for these firms to offer funds for the training of residents and fellows in teaching hospitals in return for which reseaˇch projects of new drugs and their ultimate publicity is implied; and "Whereas, Many faculty members of schools of medicine are in the employment of manufacturing pharmaceutical firms; therefore be it "Resolved, That the Board of Trustees of the American Medical Association should consider the formulation of a policy concerning relations between pharmaceutical firms and the medical profession, as well as the public, in respect to premature publicity concerning drugs, the granting of subsidies to medical meetings, and other allied matters." The Reference Committee on Amendments to the Constitution and Bylaws substituted another resolution. This reads as follows: REPORT OF REFERENCE COM-ITTEE ON AMENDMENTS TO THE "Dr. Jay J. Crane, Chairman, Section on Urology, presented the following repart, which was adopted: "Resolution No. 15. -- Renolɛtion No. 15, relating to undesirable activities of pharmaceutical manufacturers was referred to this reference committee. Your committee feels that Resolution No. 15 should not be approved; and in lieu thereof recommends adoption of the following substitute resolution: "Whereas, In recent years events have indicated the necessity for closer liaison between the phaŋmaceutical manufacturer and the American Medical Association; and "Whereas, In view of the tremendous number of new drugs being developed and the expanding researon programs in medical colleges, clinics, and hospitals being financed by the drug industry, it is imperative that the manufacturer and the medical profession develop cooperatively guiding principles which will protect the American people from being subjected to the premature release of information pertaining to new products or techniques; and "Whereas, Competition within the pharmaceutical industry has become extremely keen so that in the advertising of their products drug manufacturâng firms have been forced into the expenditure of larger and larger sums of money and in increasingly broader fields of advertising; therefore be it "Resolved, That the Board of Trustees of the American Medical Association appoint a liaison committee to meet with representatives of the pharmaceutical manufacturers to accomplish tris objective." EXHIBIT 30 (From brochure of the Physicians' Council, August 1957) Code for Advertising The Physicians' Council for Information on Child Health is concerned with maintenance of high standards in promotion of products from the viewpoint of all concerned-the consumer, industry, and the medical profession. The Physicians' Council believes that honest, straightforward and informative promotion is essential in the merchandising of products affecting the mental or physical health of infants and children. Therefore the Physicians' Council adopts the following basic principles to serve as its Code for Advertising as a guide for manufacturers, advertisers and consumers in matters pertaining to infant and child health. claims and endorsements 1. Claims for the efficacy or usefulness of a product should be reasonable and appropriately drawn from scientific evidence or authoritative opinion expressed by qualified persons or groups. 2. Glaims should not be stronger than the evidence warrants, should not be ambiguous, and should be expressed in such a way as to avoid multiple interpretations. Implied endorsements by ambiguous statements are undesirable. 3. Vague statements of endorsement or use of a product by a physician, an institution or the general medical or allied pro fessions do not constitute acceptable claims. 4. The statement of claims should be made in language appropriate to the understanding of the intended audience. Otherwise, such statements may be misleading or confusing. |