title: Managing perceived conflicts of interest while ensuring the continued innovation of medical technology.
abstract: If it were not for the ongoing collaboration between vascular surgeons and the medical technology industry, many of these advanced treatments used every day in vascular interventional surgery would not exist. The flip side of this coin is that these vital relationships create multiple roles for surgeons and must be appropriately managed. The dynamic process of innovation, along with factors such as product delivery technique refinement, education, testing and clinical trials, and product support, all make it necessary for ongoing and close collaboration between surgeons and the device industry. This unique relationship sometimes leads to the perception of conflicts of interest for physicians, in part because the competing pressures from the multiple, overlapping roles as clinician/caregiver/investigator/innovator/customer are significant. To address this issue, the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed), the nation's largest medical technology association representing medical device and diagnostics companies, developed a Code of Ethics to guide medical technology companies in their interactions with health care professionals. First introduced in 1993, the AdvaMed Code strongly encourages both industry and physicians to commit to openness and high ethical standards in the conduct of their business interactions. The AdvaMed Code addresses many of the types of interactions that can occur between companies and health care professionals, including training, consulting agreements, the provision of demonstration and evaluation units, and charitable donations. By following the Code, companies send a strong message that treatment decisions must always be based on the best interest of the patient.
authors.affiliation: AdvaMed, Washington, DC 20004, USA. avanhaute@advamed.org
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Van Haute
mesh_terms: D032781:Codes of Ethics; D016265:Conflict of Interest / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D005249:Fees and Charges; D037921:Gift Giving; D033161:Government Regulation; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D019981:Health Care Sector / Q000191:economics / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D007400:Interprofessional Relations / Q000941:ethics; D010465:Perception; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000191:economics / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards; D015871:Scientific Misconduct; D014656:Vascular Surgical Procedures / Q000191:economics / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards