I was so psyched today to get a letter about my editor’s note in our last issue. It was about doctors discussing end-of-life issues (you know, that “death panel” thing), and I really worried about wading into politics. But with healthcare reform in the spotlight, how could I not? Anyway, the letter writer made a great point that I hadn’t thought about.

If you haven’t checked it out, I’d like to invite you to read “Let’s Talk About the Hard Stuff” and let me know what you think here, or at the article site, or via e-mail. Am I totally out to lunch on this one?

It seems like just yesterday (definitely not two and a half years ago!) when I bid this blog a fond adieu as I moved on to a new job. But now I’ve boomeranged back to Medical Meetings, and I’m bringing my blog with me.

So if you’ve been hanging around this neighborhood for a while, say hi to your old friend, Capsules. I’ll try to stay on top of all the latest news in the world of pharma marketing regulations, CME, and whatever else seems relevant, interesting, or just worth sharing with you all. I thought about starting fresh and deleting all the old posts, but you know, they just might come in handy sometime, so I’m leaving them up. Just remember that everything older than this post is a couple of years older!

Please feel free to drop a comment in the comment box (you can do it anonymously if you’d prefer), or e-mail me with your thoughts on what’s happening in the world, what you’d like to see happen in the magazine or online, and generally how I can help you find what you need and want to have to do your job even better.

With my new position as editor of Association Meetings, I no longer will be able to maintain this lovely Capsules blog. Fortunately, there are others out there covering CME and pharma topics better than I. Some of my favorites are:

Anne’s T-V Blog, run by my friend and co-blogger Anne Tailor-Vaisey, is the resource for the latest in academia, research, and occasional fun stuff.

CME Linkages, run by Debra Gist, covers the latest news related to all things CME. It is, in a word, terrific.

Health Care Renewal keeps a close eye on the healthcare industry, rooting out evil-doing and the appearance thereof.

Pharma Gossip is all about, well, pharma gossip. It hits a lot of the same topics as Health Care Renewal, with a much snarkier tone.

We will leave Capsules up as an archive, so you can still search for older items. I will miss writing this site.

Thank you for everything!

Here we go again: Drug Files Show Maker Promoted Unapproved Use (from the New York Times).

The good news, for me, is that I just got a promotion—I will be the new editor of Association Meetings, a magazine I have always found to be fascinating, in a field that’s also fascinating. So many new things to explore!

While I’m really excited about the news, I’m also sad, because this means I will have to leave my job with Medical Meetings. I love the CME world, and the people who live in it, and I will miss it and you all horribly. I can’t begin to say how much. But a new world beckons, and I have to move on. I only hope that the association planners I will be serving will be as wonderful as you all have been to me. While my focus will be changing, I still plan to keep up to date on what’s happening in CME, and I still plan to go to the Alliance for CME meeting in January.

Thank you for everything, and I hope to see you there.

I just got a note from a hotel sales manager who wanted to unsubscribe from the weekly Capsules update because his responsibilities had shifted and he no longer served this market. I was so impressed that he read all the stuff here to better understand what his customers have to deal with. Now he is someone I would enjoy doing business with: a hotelier who really cares about his clients’ needs.

While the sessions were interesting, and the exhibits pretty cool, the absolute best part of the National Task Force on CME Provider/Industry Collaboration conference was getting to see so many of the people I’ve gotten to know in this business, batting around ideas, and making those human connections in what so often can be our increasingly isolating society. The CME providers and commercial supporters I’ve gotten to know are truly the best and the brightest, and I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to once again shake your hands and pick your brains.

I’m heading out in the morning to beautiful Baltimore for the 17th Annual Conference of the National Task Force on CME Provider/Industry Collaboration. If the laptop gods are with me, I hope to post some highlights from the meeting here on Capsules, so stay tuned…

The Accreditation Council for CME has added some resources regarding the new accreditation criteria to its Web site:

“Letter from the CEO” (PDF)

In response to inquiries from the CME community, a number of Frequently Asked Questions have been compiled and posted under three topic areas, in the “Ask ACCME” section of the website.

Updated Accreditation Criteria (General Questions)

Updated Accreditation Criteria (Questions Related to the Criteria)

Updated Accreditation Criteria (Questions Related to Implementation)

Here’s something I wrote shortly after 9/11/01. I will never forget the lives lost, the bravery, the sadness, the fear, and the way we all came together for that one all-too-brief moment in time. My heart still aches.

The Frozen Zone

Soft autumn breezes rattle

The first crackling leaves

Dancing in crazy spirals

Across the graying asphalt

Silted with ash

Slick with tears

A surreal montage

Helmets and hoses

Buckets and backhoes

Streaked faces etched in horror

Working, hoping, working,

working

Debris flaming red as leaves

flutters the air

Amid unthinkable chaos,

A stillness grows

Enfolding souls lost

Souls at a loss

The world stops

Frozen in one aching moment

Then another, and another

But soft autumn breezes rattle

The first crackling leaves

And redden warm child cheeks

Hands reaching hands

Holding tight

Holding tighter

and the thaw begins

In memory of those who lost their lives September 11

In hope for those of us they leave behind

–Sue Pelletier, September 2001