NEOUCOM to receive $400K from program

COLUMBUS -- The Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine is getting $398,704 from the Attorney General Consumer and Prescriber Education Grant Program.
NEOUCOM is the only Ohio recipient of some of the $9 million allocated to 24 recipients by the program, said Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro.
The money will be distributed over the next two years to educate health-care professionals about pharmaceutical industry marketing practices and provide strategies for accessing unbiased sources of information about drugs.
The funding is from the 2004 attorney general settlement resolving allegations that pharmaceutical giant Warner Lambert violated state consumer protection laws in promoting the prescription drug Neurontin for off-label uses.
Dr. Clint Snyder, NEOUCOM's associate dean for health professions education, said the grant will help faculty learn how to more effectively teach students about drug development, pharmaceutical approval in the United States and using medical literature to guide clinical decision-making.
Medical and pharmacy students will also have their curricula expanded to better prepare them to navigate the often-difficult relationship between the pharmaceutical industry and clinicians, he said.
NEOUCOM, located in Rootstown, offers both a doctor of medicine and a doctor of pharmacy degree.
The college offers a combined B.S./M.D. program with the University of Akron, Kent State and Youngstown State universities.