CHICAGO -- The AMA's House of Delegates drew the line on this year's hot button topic -- maintenance of certification (MOC), saying it should not be mandatory, nor should it be a condition of licensure.
Joshua M. Cohen, MD,MPH, alternate delegate from the American Academy of Neurology, fully supported incorporating Maintenance of Certification (MOC) and Maintenance of Licensure (MOL) into physician culture. However, Cohen said he understands that certain aspects of the MOC/MOL process are not physician-friendly.
In an interview with 51˶, Cohen said he would like to see the AMA work to support physicians and temper frustrations to make MOC/MOL less of an obstacle and more of a way to ensure high quality standards among physicians.
The House voted on a combination of three resolutions and one board of trustees report. The report, opposing mandatory MOC in favor of self-regulation, was approved by the house.
Electronic Cigarettes
The House combined four resolutions seeking to pose stricter regulation on e-cigarettes, and adopted new policy asking the FDA to treat the devices just as it does other tobacco and nicotine products.
James D. Felsen, MD, of Great Cacapon, W.Va., alternate delegate for the West Virginia delegation, opposed the combined resolutions in the debate session. "I've never seen an issue that has so much chaos, confusion, contradiction, and divisiveness, he said. Felsen said he'd prefer all three resolutions were looped into the AMA's ongoing study and report on e-cigarettes.
"I totally agree that there shouldn't be an availability or marketing to minors, but unfortunately with the Web, that's not going to occur," Felsen said as he likened e-cigarettes on the Internet to pornography or other age-restricted web-based content.
But Felsen insisted that there's been a lot of misinformation, and a comprehensive study would beneficially shed more light on the subject.
As part of the newly adopted policy, e-cigarette packaging should display clear disclosures for content and emissions all wrapped in child-proof packaging. In addition, the AMA policy backed restrictions on cartridge flavors that might appeal to minors and strict prohibitions on unsupported claims marketing e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool.
Reducing Gun Violence
Two resolutions before the house relating to tightening gun regulation were referred to the board of trustees when the house failed to reach consensus on gun transfers, criminal background checks, and gun registries.
For example, a resolution asking for mandatory background checks for gun transfers was met with staunch opposition from several delegations, Texas chief among them.
A representative of the Georgia delegation said, "There are a lot of permutations to this resolution that are not included in the resolution."
Another delegate said, "We may be shooting ourselves in the foot here. I don't think the government needs to know by licensure that I have a gun. You're going to make criminals out of most of rural America [ who own guns, but fail to register]."
The same delegate went on to raise questions about practical implementation of the licensure, and said, "You're not going to save lives in urban areas by licensing guns."
Other Actions
The AMA house also adopted the following new policies:
- Beefed up nutrition labeling, including information about added sugars.
- Backing the meningococcal vaccine for adolescents.
Finally, the AMA also voiced its support for a ban on smoking in vehicles when minors are present.