Is continuing medical education a drug-promotion tool?: NO.

In recent years, industry sponsorship of continuing medical education (CME) has grown rapidly and now accounts for up to 65% of the total revenue of CME programs in the United States.1,2 In Canada and the United States, national guidelines state that “independent” programs should maintain scientific objectivity and independence of content and receive commercial support only through unrestricted funding mechanisms.3-5 Despite the technically unrestricted nature of such industry-funded programs, however, substantial conflicts of interest and the potential for undue commercial influence persist.6