PharmedOut
Encyclopedia
PharmedOut is a Georgetown University Medical Center project founded in 2006. It is directed by Dr. Adriane Fugh-Berman. The stated mission of the organization is to empower prescribers and other healthcare professionals to identify and counter inappropriate pharmaceutical promotion practices. This organization provides healthcare professionals with pharma-free continuing medical education (CME) and resources to unbiased drug information. PharmedOut was founded with funds from the Attorney General Consumer and Prescriber Education grant program. Since 2008, PharmedOut has been financially supported by individual donations and largely staffed by a volunteer team of physicians, pharmacists, nurses, scientists, lawyers, students, artists and writers. PharmedOut conducts novel research on the effects of pharmaceutical promotion on prescribers and consumers. Access to publications, educational modules, factsheets, teaching tools, pharma-free continuing medical education (CME) and many other resources can be found on their official site
http://www.pharmedout.org/aboutus.htm
) and the Attorneys General of 50 States and the District of Columbia to settle allegations that Warner-Lambert conducted an unlawful marketing campaign for the drug Neurontin that violated state consumer protection laws. Georgetown University Medical Center, with Dr. Adriane Fugh-Berman as Principal Investigator, received a $398,000 grant to create educational modules for physicians , factsheets for consumers, and short videos on pharmaceutical marketing practices. PharmedOut has grown into an international, influential watchdog organization that performs novel research on and creates highly effective educational modules about pharmaceutical marketing tactics. PharmedOut empowers prescribers to identify and counter inappropriate pharmaceutical promotion practices. http://www.pharmedout.org/aboutus.htm
PharmedOut provides access to hundreds of hours of free, web-based, pharma-free CME including:
The Pharmalyzer: Are You Prescribing Under the Influence?
Drug Approval in the U.S.
Generic Drugs: Prescribing Sensibly
Other PharmedOut resources include Patient Factsheets (including Fast Facts on Generic Drugs and Prescription Drug Marketing: What Consumers Need to Know) and teaching tools for medical educators
PharmedOut journal articles include:
• Haunting the Medical Literature: How Ghostwriting was Used to Sell Menopausal Hormone Therapy, published in PLoS Medicine
• Why lunch matters: assessing physicians' perceptions about industry relationships was published in the Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions.
• Ethical Considerations of Publication Planning in the Pharmaceutical Industry
• Prescription Tracking and Public Health
• Following the Script: How Drug Reps Make Friends and Influence Doctor
• Off-Label Promotion, On-Target Sales
PharmedOut videos, including Zyprexa Drug Rep, provide illuminating glimpses behind the scenes through interviews with former and current industry insiders. Transcripts are also available.
, and Paul Thacker, a Senior Investigator for Senator Grassley. The conference was covered by the New York Times and Journal of the American Medical Association
, and attracted 130 participants. The conference program and handouts are available on their official site.
Funded solely through a Reflective Engagement grant from Georgetown University
and registration fees, the conference was a joint effort between Georgetown University Medical Center
, Georgetown University Law Center
, and the Kennedy Institute of Ethics
.
Other partners include:
Mission
- Document and disseminate information about how pharmaceutical companies influence prescribing
- Foster access to unbiased information about drugs
- Encourage physicians and other prescibers to choose pharma-free continuing education
http://www.pharmedout.org/aboutus.htm
History
PharmedOut was founded in 2006 through a grant from the Attorney General Consumer and Prescriber Education grant program. These funds came from a $21 million provision in a settlement between Warner Lambert (a subsidiary of PfizerPfizer
Pfizer, Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical corporation. The company is based in New York City, New York with its research headquarters in Groton, Connecticut, United States...
) and the Attorneys General of 50 States and the District of Columbia to settle allegations that Warner-Lambert conducted an unlawful marketing campaign for the drug Neurontin that violated state consumer protection laws. Georgetown University Medical Center, with Dr. Adriane Fugh-Berman as Principal Investigator, received a $398,000 grant to create educational modules for physicians , factsheets for consumers, and short videos on pharmaceutical marketing practices. PharmedOut has grown into an international, influential watchdog organization that performs novel research on and creates highly effective educational modules about pharmaceutical marketing tactics. PharmedOut empowers prescribers to identify and counter inappropriate pharmaceutical promotion practices. http://www.pharmedout.org/aboutus.htm
Accomplishments
PharmedOut speakers have provided lectures at dozens of Grand Rounds, meetings, conferences, and medical student events.PharmedOut provides access to hundreds of hours of free, web-based, pharma-free CME including:
The Pharmalyzer: Are You Prescribing Under the Influence?
Drug Approval in the U.S.
Generic Drugs: Prescribing Sensibly
Other PharmedOut resources include Patient Factsheets (including Fast Facts on Generic Drugs and Prescription Drug Marketing: What Consumers Need to Know) and teaching tools for medical educators
PharmedOut journal articles include:
• Haunting the Medical Literature: How Ghostwriting was Used to Sell Menopausal Hormone Therapy, published in PLoS Medicine
• Why lunch matters: assessing physicians' perceptions about industry relationships was published in the Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions.
• Ethical Considerations of Publication Planning in the Pharmaceutical Industry
• Prescription Tracking and Public Health
• Following the Script: How Drug Reps Make Friends and Influence Doctor
• Off-Label Promotion, On-Target Sales
PharmedOut videos, including Zyprexa Drug Rep, provide illuminating glimpses behind the scenes through interviews with former and current industry insiders. Transcripts are also available.
Current projects
PharmedOUT works on a variety of different topics simultaneously through the work of a devoted group of interns. More information can be found on their official site.PharmedOUT conferences
PharmedOut’s first conference, Prescription for Conflict: Should Industry Fund Physician Education? was held in June 2010 and explored the issues of whether the pharmaceutical industry should fund continuing medical education. Speakers included Carl Elliott, author of White Coat, Black Hat, Dan Carlat, author of Unhinged, Josh Sharfstein, Deputy Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationFood and Drug Administration
The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...
, and Paul Thacker, a Senior Investigator for Senator Grassley. The conference was covered by the New York Times and Journal of the American Medical Association
Journal of the American Medical Association
The Journal of the American Medical Association is a weekly, peer-reviewed, medical journal, published by the American Medical Association. Beginning in July 2011, the editor in chief will be Howard C. Bauchner, vice chairman of pediatrics at Boston University’s School of Medicine, replacing ...
, and attracted 130 participants. The conference program and handouts are available on their official site.
Funded solely through a Reflective Engagement grant from Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
and registration fees, the conference was a joint effort between Georgetown University Medical Center
Georgetown University Medical Center
Georgetown University Medical Center is the medical campus at Georgetown University. It is also a $225 million biomedical research and educational organization. The Medical Center contains over 80% of Georgetown University's sponsored research funding and is led by Howard J...
, Georgetown University Law Center
Georgetown University Law Center
Georgetown University Law Center is the law school of Georgetown University, located in Washington, D.C.. Established in 1870, the Law Center offers J.D., LL.M., and S.J.D. degrees in law...
, and the Kennedy Institute of Ethics
Kennedy Institute of Ethics
The Kennedy Institute of Ethics was established at Georgetown University in 1971 as a bioethics center, think tank and library.Scholars based at the Institute, as of 2009, include Ruth Faden and Tom Beauchamp....
.
Other partners include:
- Healthy SkepticismHealthy SkepticismHealthy Skepticism Inc is an international non-profit organisation whose main aim is to "improve health by reducing harm from misleading drug promotion"....
- American Medial Student Association
- Health Care Renewal
- Health News ReviewHealth News ReviewHealth News Review is a website that rates the completeness, accuracy, and balance of U.S. news stories about health care. It builds on other similar initiatives, such as the Media Doctor website in Australia and the Behind the Headlines project in the UK...
- National Women’s Health Network
- Health Research Group
Fact sheets and publications
PharmedOUT publishes peer-reviewed articles, commentaries, consumer-oriented articles and fact sheets PhO Publications. Articles include Promotional Tone in Reviews of Menopausal Hormone Therapy After the Women's Health Initiative: An Analysis of Published Articles, Haunting the Medical Literature: How Ghostwriting was Used to Sell Menopausal Hormone Therapy, Why lunch matters: assessing physicians' perceptions about industry relationships, and Prescribing Evidence: the Effectiveness and Safety of New Drugs (Editorial).External links
- National Women's Health Network
- PhO on Facebook
- PhO on Twitter
- No Free Lunch (organization)No Free Lunch (organization)No Free Lunch is a US-based advocacy organization that holds that marketing methods employed by drug companies influence the way doctors and other healthcare providers prescribe medications...
- Skepticism
- Medical Student Association
- Health Care Renewal
- Health News Review
- National Women’s Health Network
- Health Research Group
- Legislative Association on Prescription Drug Prices