Statement by Christine K. Cassel, MD, President and CEO of the ABIM Foundation on the Institute of Medicine Report: Conflict of Interest in Medical Research, Education, an...( PHILADELPHIA April 28 -- The ABIM F...),Health

PHILADELPHIA, April 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "The ABIM Foundation both lauds and supports the Institute of Medicine's report, Conflict of Interest in Medical Research, Education, and Practice. The recommendations will be critical to protecting the integrity of professional judgment and preserving public trust in medicine.

"In 2002, the ABIM Foundation, the American College of Physicians Foundation and the European Federation of Internal Medicine recognized that physicians today face new ethical challenges that could not have been envisioned when the Hippocratic Oath was developed. Together we released Medical Professionalism in the New Millennium: A Physician Charter, detailing a new set of professional responsibilities, including a commitment to maintaining trust by managing conflicts of interest. According to the Charter, 'Medical professionals and their organizations have many opportunities to compromise their professional responsibilities by pursuing private gain or personal advantage.'

"However, while it is the responsibility of the individual physician to live up to the ideals of the Charter, the environment in which they practice may make it difficult to do so. The IOM report released today, the research for which was funded in part by the ABIM Foundation, makes specific recommendations for the physician community, researchers, the health care industry, patients and policy makers to help foster an environment in which physicians can work to live up to the ideals embodied in the Charter.

"We look forward to working with the IOM to continue to promote a health care profession that is committed to the values of accountability and transparency."

The mission of the ABIM Foundation is to advance medical professionalism to improve the health care system. We achieve this by collaborating with physicians and physician leaders, medical trainees, hea
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