Hotel Workers Against Industry-Funded CME?

In a fascinating new chapter in the battle over industry funding of CME, a huge hotel workers' union has started a campaign to end the practice. Unite Here represents 270,000 workers, and the organization claims that industry funding of CME drives up their health care costs, which is undoubtedly true. So they have created a website, No More Drug Money, to advocate their cause, and they are inviting us all to sign the Pledge: "Add your name here to encourage the ACCME to kick drug money out of CME for good."

You have to respect an organization willing to bite the hand that feeds them. Hotel workers are, after all, an integral part of the grand machinery transporting industry marketing messages into the hearts and minds of doctors. They're quite aware of this:

"We work in hotels, airports, and convention centers, and we do the hard work that make many CME meetings run. We cook the food, we change the sheets, we do the laundry, and we pass out the agendas. We see first-hand what kind of presence pharmaceutical companies have during these meetings. And we are ready for a better system."

For ACCME's formulaic response, click here.

Industry funding of medical education, whether accredited CME or promotional talks, has always created strange bedfellows, but now it has created particularly strange antagonists.