German hospital directors approve sponsorship guidelines
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Germany's organisation of hospital directors (VKD) has finally put its name to the joint policy document which lays out guidelines on co-operation between industry, medical industry and their staff. "We circulated the document on sponsorship for our members' consideration last autumn, when it was published, but could not sign until the issue had been debated properly," said Gabriele Kirchner, director of the VKD. She stressed that the document is not binding and that she is not in a position to force all of Germany's 2,000 or more medical institutions to adhere to the recommendations.