APA Tightens Rules for Industry-Supported Symposia

APA’s Scientific Program Committee has implemented new rules that should improve the balance and quality of industry-supported symposia and make their presence less intrusive at future APA annual meetings.

The changes were sparked by a number of complaints concerning the industry-supported symposia presented at the 1997 annual meeting in San Diego in May, according to Sidney Weissman, M.D., chair of an ad hoc committee assigned to review the concerns.

Among them were that sponsors mailed promotional pieces to members suggesting APA endorsement of their symposia, industry representatives used aggressive tactics to attract audience members on site, and the content of some presentations heavily reflected their pharmaceutical sponsorship and lacked balance.

After conducting its review, the committee made a number of recommendations to the Scientific Program Committee, some of which were implemented at APA’s 1997 Institute on Psychiatric Services in October.

"Historically, the industry-supported symposia at the annual meeting have been extremely well-attended and highly rated," said Weissman, who is a former chair of the Scientific Program Committee. "It’s important that APA members know that the committee takes their concerns seriously and is striving continually to make the annual meeting a high-quality and pleasurable educational activity."

Here are brief descriptions of the new rules and procedures:

• Pharmaceutical companies sponsoring symposia are not permitted to use APA letterhead in promotional materials.



• A "work group" consisting of senior APA staff and members of the Scientific Program Committee will monitor the activities of pharmaceutical company representatives at the annual meeting. The group will address and remedy any behavior deemed to be "inappropriate." Specific guidelines will be communicated to industry supporters, such as requiring the use of APA name badges and requesting that representatives remain in their respective meeting areas during an educational activity.



• Each symposium can include no more than one employee of its sponsor unless the sponsor can demonstrate that additional employees are needed to present the data adequately.



• The APA Participant Disclosure Form will be modified to identify full-time industry employees and distinguish them from symposium presenters who may serve on or sponsor industry-supported CME or research activities. Prior to each presentation at an industry-supported symposium, information revealing any possible conflicts of interest will be available to audience members.



• The evaluation form for industry-supported symposia will be redesigned so that participants can rate each presenter in a symposium as well as the symposium itself. A more sensitive six-point scale will be used rather than the four-point scale previously used.



• The evaluation data on presenters will be used to track their performance from year to year and make program selections. Speakers who receive a below-average score will be notified of the need to make improvements. Speakers who do not earn higher ratings the following year may be dropped.



• Symposia sponsors will be required to audiotape their symposia and forward tapes to the Scientific Program Committee. If complaints are lodged against a symposium, the tapes will be used as a reference.

"The purpose of these new rules is to assure the maintenance of the content of our meeting at its current high level," said Weissman. "It is our sense that the implementation of these changes worked well at the Institute on Psychiatric Services in October. The ad hoc committee, however, would appreciate hearing from APA members regarding these changes. The annual meeting is a dynamic process involving all elements of APA. We must constantly work to assure its success."