Washington, D.C., December 22, 2003 - Jordan J. Cohen, M.D., president of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), issued the following statement today:

"An article regarding the National Institutes of Health (NIH), published on December 7 in the Los Angeles Times, has sent shockwaves through the research community.

Worrisome as these allegations are, all the facts about this matter have not yet surfaced. Until all the details are known, judgment should be reserved. However, this situation should serve as an important reminder to all that the absence of a robust, credible, and transparent system to monitor financial conflicts of interest (COI) can do serious damage to the public's essential trust in the scientific enterprise.

AAMC supports NIH Director Elias Zerhouni's call for an immediate, impartial review of these allegations through the creation of an internal Conflicts of Interest committee and a blue ribbon panel of outside leaders. We believe this process should be allowed to take its course before any conclusions are drawn."

Information about the AAMC's Conflict of Interest Task Force is available at www.aamc.org/coitf.

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The Association of American Medical Colleges is a not-for-profit association representing all 129 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools; nearly 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, including 68 Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and 94 academic and scientific societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC represents 109,000 faculty members, 67,000 medical students, and 104,000 resident physicians. Additional information about the AAMC and U.S. medical schools and teaching hospitals is available at www.aamc.org/newsroom.

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