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Identifying and Addressing Potential Conflict of Interest: A Professional Medical Organization�s Code of Ethics
Lori Heim
In response to an editorial by Howard Brody, M.D., Ph.D., Lori Heim, M.D., F.A.A.F.P., President of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), counters that the AAFP�s new consumer alliance agreement with The Coca-Cola Company illustrates the AAFP�s adherence to its ethical foundation, demonstrates the AAFP�s commitment to serving physicians and the public, and maintains the trust Americans put in their family physicians and the organization that represents them. She contends that throughout the development of the program, the AAFP consistently addresses possible conflicts of interest openly and directly, sharing with its members and the public exactly what measures it takes to ensure that no unethical conduct or breach of trust will occur. The AAFP saw a public health and education need that was both unmet and undermined by the barrage of marketing messages and confusing information and acted to fill that need by developing unbiased educational materials to help patients make good nutrition decisions. In so doing, she concludes, the AAFP hewed to its high ethical standards, its core values, and its mission in the decisions made and the actions that followed.
