I completely agree with Dr. Lexchin's concern in regard to the case “A hypertensive snow bird,” which was distributed with an issue of CMAJ and appeared on the CMA Web site. Dr. Lexchin brought this case to my attention shortly after the case was distributed through this journal.
The CFPC requires its members to partake in continuing medical education (CME). The College approves university CME centres to offer educational material and courses that quality for Mainpro CME credits. This online case was accredited on behalf of the College by McGill University.
As the original case was written, and in the supplementary material online, the patient was placed on the medication telmisartan, which is manufactured by Boehringer Ingelheim, who sponsored the development of this CME material through an “unrestricted educational grant” to mdBriefCase and McGill University. No evidence was provided to explain why less expensive alternatives as recommended in national guidelines were not used in the management of the patient.
My concern that this could be viewed as peer-selling was addressed by those responsible at McGill. The online case was subsequently and appropriately modified.
Competing interests: None declared.