I appear today as an individual, as a physician and cardiologist and not as a member of the governing council of CIHR, nor as Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Montreal or as co-chair of the National Committee on the Future of the Teaching Hospitals of Canada.
As far as I can gather, there are two issues at stake with the nomination of Bernard Prigent to the governing council of the CIHR.
The first is that of the integrity and competence of Dr. Prigent. To me, this is clearly the most important issue at stake. To my knowledge, neither of these critical qualities associated with the nomination of Dr. Prigent to GC have been seriously questioned.
I have known Dr. Prigent for many years during which I have had the pleasure to work and exchange with him as a scientist and a committed member of our society.
I have always been impressed by his judgment, his great competence, his generosity, and the integrity he always brought to commitments he undertook, whether they be related to his job or as an individual contributing to the advancement of our society. At his first GC meeting two and a half weeks ago, it was clear to all members of GC that Dr. Prigent had the skills we had been seeking in order to better fulfill our mandate,and that he had the personal qualities we expect in all members of GC.
Many other people are just as concerned as I am watching demagogues confuse that which is most important, the skills, integrity and qualities of a person with the qualifications which that person brings to the CIHR's council in order to improve our ability to meet the needs of our society.
The second is whether a member of the pharmaceutical industry should sit as a member of GC. At this time there is a consensus that in order to better serve Canadians, the research community needs to develop win-win partnerships, one of which is with industry. This is seen to be necessary in order to bridge the growing gap between discovery of potential therapies and delivery of care to patients.
In his speech at our convocation this spring, Professor Braunwald, former chair of medicine at Harvard and editor of today's major textbooks in internal medicine and cardiology, pointed out that according to him, most of the top 10 developments in cardiology in the last 100 years were the result of a partnership between industry and academia and that this relationship is necessary. And you can visit our website and see the lecture.
This is why we, the members of CIHR, believe that the appointment of Dr. Prigent fills a chronic and significant gap in CIHR's governing council. The innuendos that underlie the brouhaha associated with Dr. Prigent's appointment are a concern for us as members of CIHR's GC. I could add that this worries a vast majority of the deans of faculties of medicine in Canada.
Demonizing the pharmaceutical industry to the point of being unable to accept the help of a Canadian citizen happy to serve his country is truly troubling.
For my two lawyer friends, finally, another troubling unspoken concern is that the other 15 members of GC and the leadership of CIHR just fell off a turnip truck and would be unable to recognize an intervention that is coloured by conflict of interest. Please remember that at this time the members of GC are nearly all members of the institutions that receive funding from the CIHR. We are all aware of this potential conflict of interest--