Hundreds of California doctors convened in Anaheim last week for the 2009 House of Delegates, CMA’s annual meeting. Each year, physicians from all 53 California counties, representing all modes of practice meet to discuss issues related to health care policy, medicine, and patient care, and to elect CMA officers. The following are summaries of some of the resolutions that the House adopted as policy.

Health System Reform (Resolution 203a-09): The delegates voiced their support for health system reform that (1) is directed to help the truly uninsured, (2) helps those who are eligible for coverage to obtain it, (3) allows total deductibility of all health care expenses, and (4) enacts tort reform nationally, as has been done in California. The delegates also restated their support for the “Guiding Principles of Health Reform” that they passed at last year’s meeting.

Immunization for Health Care Workers (Resolution 701a-09): The delegates voted to support universal seasonal influenza vaccination for all health care workers with direct patient contact; and recommended vaccination against H1N1 and other pandemic influenza strains for health care workers according to CDC guidelines.

Nutrition Labeling of Saturated and Trans Fats (Resolution 709a-09): The delegates expressed strong support for changing nutrition labeling requirements so that saturated fat and trans fat contents are accurately reported to a 0.1 gram level per serving.

Soda Tax (Resolution 721a-09): The delegates directed CMA to support increased taxes on sodas and other sugar sweetened beverages, with the revenues to be utilized for public health education efforts and other health purposes. The delegates voted that physicians should educate their patients about the health risks associated with the consumption of food and beverages containing high amounts of processed simple or refined sugars such as high fructose corn syrup.

Online Defamation of Health Care Providers (Resolution 415a-09): The delegates voted to support legislation requiring vendors who operate online forums that review physician performance to require users to agree to terms of use that include, but are not limited to: agreeing to only post factual statements; attesting that they are a current or former patient of any physician they are reviewing; and disclosing within their posts any conflicts of interest or business relationship they have with the vendor of the online forum. The delegates also asked CMA to seek federal guidance on misleading or false statements regarding physician performance posted online or on other public venues, particularly when the false statements involve patients’ protected health information (PHI).

Medical Practice Guidelines (Resolution 504a-09): The delegates urged CMA to advocate that members of practice guideline development committees must disclose any possible conflict of interest and that such guidelines should be peer reviewed by independent reviewers prior to publication to ensure that guidelines are evidence-based and that all conflicts have been disclosed. The delegates also agreed that medical and specialty associations should not receive any money for sponsoring, underwriting or promoting practice guidelines from drug, device or equipment manufacturers.

The rest of the resolutions can be viewed at the members-only website.

Contact: Roger Purdy, 916/551-2067 or rpurdy@cmanet.org.