Stanford University Medical School established a positive partnership with a pharmaceutical company to offer an industry-sponsored resident elective course in a way that minimizes conflict of interest and has been accepted by the ACGME.
To be a useful tool for assessing quality of physician care, pay-for-performance must be designed to include process measures and to not penalize physicians for treating patients with difficult-to-manage conditions.
Several recent court cases illustrate how some states are attempting to mandate physician reporting of all underage sexual activity as instances of child abuse.
Research ethics should be included in the medical school curriculum so students and residents can fully understand the ethical implications of medical research.
New guidelines and the continuous modification of current policies will be needed in order to establish and maintain an appropriate professional relationship between physicians and pharmaceutical companies.
Two physicians assert that pharmaceutical companies' sponsorship of clinical conferences for residents and physicians represent a conflict of interest.
The ethical questions surrounding the recruitment of patients for clinical trials become more complicated when the recruiting physicians receive financial benefits for each patient enrolled.