I stopped by the Expo floor and couldn’t help but notice the decline in the number of industry exhibitors. We had similar declines in our exhibitors last year, which causes me to think this is representative of the new nature of our relationships with industry. Our relationships with industry are becoming increasingly sparse, which some would argue is how it should be. Or they would argue that the relationships shouldn’t exist at all.

That’s not the College’s view, though. We believe that although there must be firewall for relationships with industry, done correctly, they can be positive and constructive relationships. These relationships shouldn’t be seen as inherently bad, they just must be effectively and ethically managed, and breaches in ethics should NOT be tolerated.

The ACC handles our relationships by creating a firewall between the funding and the program it supports. The funding is solicited for specific new or ongoing programs/initiatives. The money is dedicated exclusively to an objective – but the industry supporter has no say in how the funds are used for the program/initiative. By using this process, the ACC can still get the valuable financial support it needs to continue to make available quality programming and education.

The College has taken a leadership role in this debate, building consensus on the issue among medical professional societies. (For more on ACC’s stance on relationships with industry, see a post from ACC.09.) We must continue to move toward responsible, transparent relationships that will allow us to maintain quality education and research in cardiovascular medicine.

What do you think?