I thank Drs Spithoff, Lexchin, and Kitai for their thoughtful comments. Our relationship with the health care and pharmaceutical industry is a complex issue for the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC), as I discussed in my April 2014 Cumulative Profile,1 and we have invested much time and thinking into how to best support the organization and meet the needs and expectations of our members.
We must prudently examine the financial, as well as reputational, consequences of how we manage our relationships. For example, Family Medicine Forum and our journal, Canadian Family Physician, are 2 key initiatives that would be strongly affected by a complete dissociation from the health care and pharmaceutical industry. We provided an update to the board in May 2015, and received important input from the board directors; hence, as we continue to gather feedback, our analysis is not completed.
Earlier this year, members enrolled in the CFPC’s ePanel (www.cfpc.ca/CFPC_ePanel) commented on our relationship with the pharmaceutical industry and nearly half of respondents said that the CFPC should maintain relationships with the pharmaceutical industry with the current level of diligent management.2 About 30% said that we should have more stringent management in place, and 20% agreed with complete dissociation. While these survey responses should not be viewed with any scientific validity, most respondents support continued diligent management of relationships.
While we hoped to be closer to a firm position by now, we are examining further what the financial effects would be on continuing professional development, Family Medicine Forum, Canadian Family Physician, and our operations as a whole. We are also exploring options for mitigating this influence.
I’d like to thank the letter writers once again for their communication. Rest assured that we are working toward a solution that supports the CFPC and our members.
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