New Book

BOSTON –In Conflicts of Interest and the Future of Medicine, Suffolk University Law School Professor Marc A. Rodwin provides an eye-opening examination of the conflicts of interest riddling health care in the United States, France and Japan.

Rodwin shows that national differences in the organization of medical practice and the interplay of organized medicine, the market, and the state give rise to variations in the type and prevalence of such conflicts.

In the United States, health care conflicts result from physicians practicing medicine as entrepreneurs, from their ties to the pharmaceutical industry, and from investor-owned firms’ and insurers' influence over physicians' medical choices. The consequences of such conflicts of interest are often devastating for the patients—and society.

Drawing on the experiences of these three nations, Rodwin shows how through innovative reform and regulation these conflicts can be alleviated. By taking a range of measures in both the private and public sector to preserve medical professionalism, the U.S., France, and Japan have more than one prescription for this seemingly incurable malady.

Jerome P. Kassirer, M.D., distinguished professor at Tufts University School of Medicine, and Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of New England Journal of Medicine, noted that “Rodwin turns a critical eye to the current proposals ... suggests new directions for reform ... [and] offers important advice that policy makers must heed if we are to restore trust in our profession.”

Rodwin is the author of Medicine, Money & Morals: Physicians' Conflicts of Interest and numerous articles on health law, ethics, politics and policy. He has been a research scholar at Tokyo University Law School and the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique in France. He has testified before Congress, advised consumer groups and lectured in several countries.

Conflicts of Interest and the Future of Medicine: The United States, France, and Japan. Oxford University Press, February 16, 2011.

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Suffolk University Law School, in the heart of Boston, enrolls more than 1,600 students in its day and evening divisions. Its curriculum includes specialty concentrations, joint-degree programs and an LL.M. in global technology. A wide range of clinical programs, internships and moot court competitions provide students with practical skills. Suffolk University is comprised of the Law School, College of Arts and Sciences and Sawyer Business School. Learn more at http://www.suffolk.edu.

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This press release is reprinted by Alanna Shaikh out of an obscure sense of guilt. It does not represent the opinions of Alanna Shaikh or any of her employers.