Accreditation Council for Medical Affairs Calls for Credentialing Pharma Sales Reps & Medical Staff to Combat Opioid Crisis

NEW YORK, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Accreditation Council for Medical Affairs, an organization that trains and certifies medical professionals and sales representatives in the pharmaceutical industry according to uniform, independently-established standards of conduct, issued the following statement describing how credentialing can help combat the opioid crisis. This statement may be attributed to Dr. William Soliman, the Accreditation Council’s president and CEO.

“With the advent of government regulations limiting opioid prescribing and the flood of lawsuits alleging improper opioid marketing practices, it’s critical that pharma companies have their medical affairs professionals and sales representatives train to interact with practicing physicians according to a set of consistent, credible and verifiable standards of conduct.

“It’s time for pharma to step up to the plate and end the perception that it operates in a Wild West environment that tolerates pushing drugs to practicing physicians with no accountability.

“Florida, which recently passed a law to strictly regulate opioid prescriptions, is one of a growing number of states to take such legislative action in part because pharma hasn’t been willing to demonstrate that it can police itself.

“We at the Accreditation Council are partnering with industry to advocate for standardized training and certification as a way to combat the opioid crisis and to help pharma avoid similar scenarios in the future that lead to litigation and government scrutiny.

“We have the support of officials from around the country, including Jeff Kottkamp, who oversaw Florida’s Office of Drug Control while serving as the state’s lieutenant governor from 2007 to 2011, and New Jersey Assemblyman Robert Auth, a leading advocate of uniform standards for medical affairs professionals and pharma reps.

“Over 4,000 medical affairs specialists have enrolled so far in the Accreditation Council’s Board Certified Medical Affairs Specialist Program, or BCMAS, since it was launched in the United States just over two years ago as the nation’s only consistent, credible and verifiable educational program for medical affairs professionals.”

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About ACMA

The Accreditation Council for Medical Affairs, or ACMA, is a self-governing entity that administers medical affairs certification program content.

The council works collaboratively with other academic and industry organizations to ensure that there are adequate educational and professional development opportunities for professionals involved in medical affairs as well as for students with an interest in medical affairs.

For additional information, visit ACMA’s website, http://www.medicalaffairsspecialist.org/.

Follow ACMA on Twitter and LinkedIn.

ACMA Contact:
Sarah Basmadjian
info@medicalaffairsspecialist.org

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