Apr 26 2024BMJ Medical education provider Medscape has bowed to pressure and agreed to permanently remove a series of accredited medical education courses on smoking cessation funded by the tobacco industry giant Philip Morris International , The BMJ and The Examination have found.
According to an internal Medscape document seen by The BMJ and the Examination, Medscape had planned to deliver 13 programs under a multi-million dollar deal with PMI - called the "PMI Curriculum" - as well as podcasts and a "TV-like series." In response to the criticism, a spokesperson for Philip Morris International told The BMJ: "Health agencies around the world have recognized the beneficial role that smoke-free products can play to improve public health. We are concerned that known special interest groups are actively blocking medical education that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and medical community have determined are needed.
Related StoriesMedscape claims that the course content complied fully with standards set by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education , but Pamela Ling, director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California San Francisco, said if so, "then the standards need to be strengthened to ensure they don't allow merchants of death to educate doctors.