About the AMSA PharmFree Scorecard 2008
The public, policymakers and leaders within the medical profession are becoming increasingly worried about financial conflicts of interest influencing medical care and threatening the doctor-patient relationship. Medical schools and academic medical centers can play a powerful leadership role in setting new standards for the profession.
The American Medical Student Association (
AMSA) released the first
"PharmFree Scorecard" in 2007. This initial Scorecard graded schools on the presence or absence of a policy regulating the interactions between their medical campuses and the pharmaceutical and device industries. AMSA worked with
The Prescription Project to develop the 2008 Scorecard, which establishes a robust and transparent methodology to assess the content of policies at medical schools throughout the country.
AMSA established its
PharmFree Campaign in 2002, and this campaign continues to advocate for evidence-based rather than marketing-based prescribing practices, global access to essential medicines, and the removal of conflicts of interest. AMSA provides toolkits, talks, and training institutes to help medical students advance these goals.
The Prescription Project was created by The Pew Charitable Trusts in 2006 to promote evidence-based prescribing and reduce conflicts of interest caused by drug marketing. The project provides
academic medical center toolkits and other resources including direct technical assistance for medical centers to address conflict of interest and strengthen their institutional policies.
Contact:
scorecard@amsascorecard.orgPress:
press@amsascorecard.org
