FBG Public Policy Committee And Policy Guidelines

The Public Policy Committee (PPC) is a standing committee that establishes guidelines regarding policies for interacting with pharmaceutical and other industries, the FDA and other regulatory agencies, other professional organizations (e.g., AGA, ACG, Rome Committees and IFFGD), individual FBG members, the general public and patients with functional GI disorders.

The PPC composition is intended to include senior and junior members and represent the professional and international diversity of the FBG. Representatives of other professional organizations may be invited as ad hoc members or as consultants.

PPC Operating Procedures

1. Membership and turnover--The Nominating Committee selects the PPC Chair. The Chair appoints five other members, one council member from each of the two-year council terms, and three others, all who require approval at the Executive Committee Meeting in May. The Chair and other members serve for two years.
2. Policy distribution--The policy guidelines are provided to individuals, including organizational representatives, by the Executive Director on request. In addition, the PPC can approve proactive guideline distribution.
3. Disclosure of industry relations--Disclosure of financial support of PPC and Executive Committee members for research or other professional activities is also available from the Executive Director who requests updates of the members' declarations annually in January.
4. Policy revision--The PPC reviews the policy guidelines annually. Any FBG member may submit a request to the PPC for a guideline revision or decision on a particular public policy issue, which the PPC Chair classifies as routine or urgent. Routine requests require a majority vote at the Annual Business Meeting during DDW. Urgent decisions can be made by a majority vote of the PPC via telephone or e-mail, subject to ratification at the Annual Meeting. This process excludes an individual from independently creating policy.
5. Violation reporting--Any FBG member can report a suspected guideline violation by an FBG member to the PPC or, if the individual is a PPC member, to the Executive Committee.

Public Policy Guidelines

1. General policy--The PPC supports promotion of the FBG mission to advance research and education on brain-gut interactions and functional GI disorders. For example, the FBG can make general statements about functional GI disorders, costs of illness, risk/benefit ratios of therapies, acceptable toxicity thresholds of drug treatment, and placebo effects. These statements are independent of the positions of industries or other agencies.
2. Product endorsement requests--The FBG can not endorse specific pharmaceutical or other medical products.
3. Expert consultants--On request, the FBG can suggest consultants; e.g., to pharmaceutical and other industries, governmental agencies, professional organizations, and patients.
4. Consulting independence--FBG consultants must identify any specific recommendations (e.g., relating to a medication in general use or under development) as their own opinions and not state or imply FBG endorsement.
5. Single corporate support of an FBG-sponsored activity with expenses paid directly to service providers by the corporation is not permitted. Payment for FBG-sponsored activities must come only from general funds, ensuring multiple sources of support.