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From the Editor Thanks to Commercial Supporters
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Dr. Bernard F. Morrey receives 2009 Nix AwardBy Robert M. Campbell, Jr., MD Dr. Bernard F. Morrey, Chairman of Orthopaedics at the Mayo Clinic, received the Dr. and Mrs. J. Elmer Nix Ethics Award on September 9, 2009. He is a national leader in orthopaedics, serving as president of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeon (AAOS) in 1994, and was president of the American Orthopaedic Association (AOA) in 2002. Dr. Morrey described the Nix Ethics Award as a unique acknowledgement in the specialty of orthopaedics and a great honor for him. After presentation of the COS award by Dr. Robert Campbell, chairman of the Nix Ethics Award Committee, Dr. Morrey gave an informative and entertaining lecture entitled “Ethical Dilemmas in Orthopaedics” to the COS board. He approached his topic not only as a senior academic orthopeadist, but also as an innovator worried about the future of orthopaedic device development in the face of mounting criticism over physician/industry “conflict of interest” issues. He cited studies and government testimony that advocated the opinion that any degree of financial conflict of interest, regardless how minor, would affect physician judgment. Orthopaedists are vulnerable to criticism about conflict of interest because of industry involvement in funding of educational meetings and in business relationships with device innovators. Dr. Morrey emphasized that the AAOS has made great efforts to define the ethical behavior for orthopaedists, but ethical management of physician conflicts of interest continues to be complex and challenging. Failure to maintain the public trust over these issues, however, may result in demands for the paradoxical exclusion of innovators from device research and loss of critical industry educational funding, with either development hampering the ability of orthopaedics to continue to advance patient care. It is more important than ever for orthopaedists to conduct themselves in an ethical fashion to avoid such possible sanctions.
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