2008-2009 AANS Officers – 28 Members Comprise AANS Board of Directors

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    The AANS officers for 2008-2009 were elected at the annual business meeting on April 28 and took office at the conclusion of the 2008 AANS Annual Meeting. The president-elect took office June 1 after a special election necessitated when the nominee previously selected by the Nominating Committee withdrew his name from consideration on March 31.

    Officers comprising the Executive Committee are: James R. Bean, MD, president; Troy M. Tippett, MD, president-elect; Martin B. Camins, MD, vice president; James T. Rutka, MD, secretary; Paul C. McCormick, MD, treasurer; and Jon H. Robertson, MD, past president. While brief biographical information on each of the officers follows, press releases with more extensive information are available in the Library at www.aans.org. The Board of Directors additionally includes five directors-at-large, four regional directors, a historian, nine ex-officio members, and three liaisons; the board is listed in its entirety at www.aans.org/about/membership/executive.asp.

    James R. Bean, MD
    President
    James R. Bean, MD, completed a three-year term as AANS treasurer prior to serving as president-elect and now as president. An active member of the AANS since 1988, Dr. Bean was editor of the AANS Bulletin from 2003 to 2005. He has served as chair of the AANS/CNS Council of State Neurosurgical Societies (1997-1999), the AANS/CNS Coding and Reimbursement Committee (2000-2002), and the AANS/CNS Washington Committee (2002-2004).He is a member of the following committees: Executive, Finance, Long-Range Planning, the Neurosurgery Research and Education Foundation Executive Council, and the NeurosurgeryPAC Board of Directors. He currently is president of Neurosurgical Associates PSC in Lexington, Ky.

    Troy M. Tippett, MD
    President-Elect
    Troy M. Tippett, MD, FACS, has served on the AANS Board of Directors since 2004, most recently completing a one-year term as vice president and a three-year term as chair of the AANS/CNS Washington Committee. He is a member of the following committees: Bylaws, Executive, Finance, Long-Range Planning, Neurosurgery Research and Education Foundation Executive Council, and the NeurosurgeryPAC Board of Directors. Dr. Tippett received the Distinguished Service Award from the AANS in 2003. He served as president of the Florida Medical Association from 2005 to 2006 and just completed service as chair of the Florida delegation to the American Medical Association. Dr. Tippett has been in private practice and a member of the Neurosurgical Group in Pensacola, Fla., since 1976 and medical director of this practice since 1988.

    Martin B. Camins, MD
    Vice President
    Martin B. Camins, MD, a member of the AANS since 1980, serves on the following committees: Bylaws, Executive, Finance, Long-Range Planning, the NeurosurgeryPAC Board of Directors, and Professional Conduct. He is a member of the Administrative Committee of the World Federation of Neurological Surgeons, the Neurosurgical Society of America, and the Society of Neurological Surgeons. He is the neurosurgical Regent of the American College of Surgeons. He also served on the Executive Committee of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons from 1985 to 1991 andwas CNS vice president in 1988. Dr. Camins is currently clinical professor of neurosurgery at The Mount Sinai Hospital and an attending neurosurgeon at Lenox Hill Hospital.

    James T. Rutka, MD
    Secretary
    James T. Rutka, MD, PhD, FRCS, is serving the last year of a three-year term as secretary. An active member of the AANS since 1983, he has served on the AANS Board of Directors since 2003. He was chair of the 2006 AANS Annual Meeting and chair of the Scientific Program Committee in 2005. He serves on following committees: Executive, Finance, Long-Range Planning, the Neurosurgery Research and Education Foundation Executive Council, Publications, and the NeurosurgeryPAC Board of Directors. Dr. Rutka has been on the neurosurgical staff at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto since 1990. He is currently director of the Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumour Research Centre. Among his many awards are the Lister Award from the University of Toronto, a Scientist Award from the Medical Research Council of Canada; and the Grass Award from the Society of Neurological Surgeons.

    Paul C. McCormick, MD
    Treasurer
    Paul C. McCormick, MD, is serving the second year of a three-year term as treasurer. An active member of the AANS since 1992, Dr. McCormick served on the AANS Board of Directors from 2002 to 2005. He was chair of the AANS/CNS Section on Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerves from 2000 to 2001, chair of the 2001 AANS Annual Meeting, and chair of the Scientific Program Committee in 2000. He is a member of the following committees: Development, Executive, Finance (Chair), Information Technology, Long-Range Planning, Maintenance of Certification, and the NeurosurgeryPAC Board of Directors. Dr. McCormick has been on the staff of Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, New York, N.Y., since 1990. In July 2006, he was appointed the Herbert and Linda Gallen Professor of Clinical Neurological Surgery at Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons. In 2007, he received the John Jay award for professional achievement from Columbia University.

    Jon H. Robertson, MD
    Past President
    Jon H. Robertson, MD, an active member of the AANS since 1983, has served on the AANS Board of Directors since 1999. He is a member of the following committees: Executive, Finance, Long-Range Planning, Neuro-Knowledge Advisory Task Force, the NeurosurgeryPAC Board of Directors, and Nominating (Chair). He finished a three-year term as AANS secretary in 2006, served as chair of the Development Committee from 2003 to 2007, and served as chair of the Annual Meeting Committee in 1994. He is active in many professional organizations, among them the American Board of Neurological Surgery, American Academy of Neurological Surgery, and the Society of Neurological Surgeons. Dr. Robertson was named professor and chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis in 1997. He has been a practicing member of the Semmes-Murphey Neurologic and Spine Institute since 1979. NS

    AANS Disciplinary Actions
    The AANS Board of Directors heard six recommendations from the Professional Conduct Committee at its April 25 meeting in Chicago. Approved were recommendations for dismissal of the complaints in three cases and for censure in two cases. One case in which the PCC had recommended censure was dismissed.

    Both of the members who were voted to be censured are appealing to the general membership of the AANS. Those appeals will be heard at the annual business meeting in San Diego, Calif., on May 4, 2009.

    For Further Information
    AANS Bylaws

    Position Statement

    The following document was signed in May 2008 by the AANS and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.

    Joint Statement on the Guidelines on Neurosurgeon-Industry Conflict of Interest

    We, the undersigned speak on behalf of organized neurosurgery in the United States. The Guidelines on Neurosurgeon-Industry Conflict of Interest is a joint effort that culminated after many months of association leadership and committee input. The respective boards of directors of the AANS and the CNS approved these guidelines.

    Rationale
    The impetus for crafting these guidelines was in part elicited by the heightened scrutiny initiated over the last year by the federal government into the relationship between physicians and industry.

    In September 2007, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., chair of the Special Committee on Aging, introduced the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, which would require drug and device makers to disclose the amount of money they give to physicians through payments, gifts, honoraria, travel and other means.

    In 2006, Medtronic reached a $40 million settlement with the federal government over accusations that the company had paid illegal kickbacks to physicians for using spinal devices. Subsequently, in late September 2007, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that settlement had been reached with five major medical device makers that accounted for nearly 95 percent of the market in hip and knee surgical implants after a multiyear investigation into violations of the federal antikickback statute.

    Consequently, the number and degree of questionable financial relationships between physicians and industry has gained significant public attention through a series of articles in high-profile media outlets including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

    The practice of device and pharmaceutical companies paying physicians, and the lack of transparency around this can potentially obscure the most important question that exists between physician and patient: What is best for the patient?

    As professional medical societies, the AANS and the CNS hold the public trust, seeking to advance the field of neurosurgery as a whole — through public and professional education, and through the development and evaluation of new technology. It is with this goal in mind that the Guidelines on Neurosurgeon-Industry Conflict of Interest document was crafted.

    Guidelines
    The guidelines encompass the following purpose:

    Neurosurgeons are necessary collaborators with industry for technical innovation by providing ideas and feedback, conducting research trials, serving on scientific advisory boards, and serving as faculty to teach the use of new technology related to neurosurgical practice. Neurosurgeons with innovative ideas to improve patient care rely on industry to bring their creative ideas to practical application in the healthcare market. The collaborative relationship between neurosurgeons and industry must be structured to avoid pitfalls of improper inducements or incentives.

    In their daily practice, all neurosurgeons must be guided by ethical principles upon which to base their decisions for the care of their patients. The goal of medicine always should be to serve the best interest of the patient, whereas business must promote profitability for the success of its investors.

    A potential conflict of interest exists whenever professional judgment concerning choices in patient care has a reasonable chance of being influenced by self-interest of the neurosurgeon.

    Accurate, complete, and understandable disclosure of any potential conflict of interest is required in communications to patients, the public and colleagues.

    When faced with a potential conflict of interest that cannot be resolved, a neurosurgeon should consult with the appropriate committee in an institutional or professional society to determine whether a conflict of interest exists and how to address it.

    We encourage you to read the guidelines and utilize them as a tool to help provide ethical care to those who entrust you with their health and lives — your patients.

    James R. Bean, MD
    President
    AANS
    Anthony L. Asher, MD
    President
    CNS

    For Further Information
    Guidelines on Neurosurgeon-Industry Conflict of Interest

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