Alcon abides by regulatory guidelines and ethical standards that governs support of continuing medical education, including but not limited to:
- Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) Standards for Commercial Support
- Council of Optometric Practitioner Continuing Education (COPE) Standards for Commercial Support
- The HHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) Compliance Program for Pharmaceutical Manufacturers
- AdvaMed Code of Ethics on Interactions with Eye Care Professionals
- FDA Final Guidance on Industry-Supported Scientific and Educational Activities
In keeping with these guidelines and Alcon’s internal policies, the IME Grant Office will not:
- Provide suggestions for topics and/or speakers for live programs or enduring materials
- Review slides or other materials for clinical accuracy
- Process applications received less than 8 weeks prior to the event or need
IME Grant Office will not support grant applications:
- that are linked to prescribing, purchasing, formulary status or reimbursement
- in which education is not the primary focus of the meeting
- in which there are recreational activities and/or entertainment
- in which there are non-modest meal functions and spouse or guest meals are covered
- that cover overhead/operating costs, i.e., the fixed cost of running a business (rent, utilities, etc.), which cannot be attributed to a specific certified educational activity
- solely for marketing campaigns including newspaper/TV/radio ads or public information spots and capital campaigns/building funds
- for website development or mass media production
- for patient education, vision screenings, health fairs or open houses
- for charitable contributions or fundraising events
- to pay for equipment or service contracts
- that are not within the therapeutic areas of interest to Alcon
- to individuals for travel or meeting registration costs
- for travel or study in a foreign country
- to individual eye care professionals or private practice groups
- for the purpose of practice development or staff training
- for meetings for the purpose of referral or networking
