title: The sunshine act and medical publications: Guidance from professional medical associations.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To review guidance from professional medical associations to physicians on the Sunshine Act, with a focus on industry support for medical publications.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using 'Sunshine Act' as a search term, we searched PubMed (dates February 2013 to November 2014) and the 'grey literature' using Google and Google Scholar. Online information was extracted from websites of pre-identified professional medical associations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Some professional medical associations have published peer-reviewed recommendations, position statements or general advice on their websites and in journals around the Sunshine Act. Associations also provided broad online educational resources for physicians. There was universal agreement between peer-reviewed publications, including guidelines, for the need for full transparency and disclosure of industry support. Surveys by some professional associations showed variance in opinion on the forecasted impact of the Sunshine Act on physician-industry relationships. There was scarce information specifically related to reporting requirements for industry-supported medical publications.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a shortage of information for physicians from professional associations regarding the Sunshine Act and support for medical publications. Due to the lack of clear guidance regarding support for publications, there are presently varying interpretations of the Sunshine Act. The literature debates the potential impact of the Sunshine Act and expresses some concerns that physician-enabled innovation in drug development may be hindered.
authors: a 1 Amgen, Inc. - Global Medical Writing , Thousand Oaks, CA, USA.
authors: Dikran
authors: D
authors: Toroser
authors: Lisa
authors: L
authors: DeTora
authors: Angela
authors: A
authors: Cairns
authors: Renu
authors: R
authors: Juneja
authors: Anna
authors: A
authors: Georgieva
authors: Al
authors: A
authors: Weigel
authors: Kim
authors: K
authors: Pepitone
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D004345:Drug Industry / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000067571:Financial Statements / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D058991:Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; D010820:Physicians / Q000191:economics / Q000941:ethics; D011643:Publishing / Q000941:ethics / Q000592:standards; D012109:Research Support as Topic; D012955:Societies, Medical / Q000191:economics / Q000941:ethics; D014481:United States
keywords: Sunshine Act; professional associations; transparency