The new MedTech Europe directive: implications for educational activities in pathology and laboratory medicine (Journal of Clinical Pathology)

As in all branches and specialties in medicine, educational activities and conferences are an essential part of training and continuous professional development and this is also mandated by statutory licensing bodies. Traditionally, industry has supported many educational activities in medicine. These have included support for congresses, workshops and other meetings. Many annual congresses and conferences rely heavily on support from both the pharmaceutical and medical technology industries. In the case of pathology, the predominant support is from the medical technology companies, as would be expected. MedTech Europe is the trade association that represents the medical technology industries including the manufacturers of diagnostic instruments and medical devices. MedTech Europe was formed in October 2012 from an alliance of European Diagnostic Manufacturer`s Association, representing the European in vitro diagnostic industry and Eucomed representing the medical devices industry. MedTech Europe recently introduced a code of practice1 for companies, which is...