AMA Meeting Focuses on Sunbeam Deal

Doctors at an American Medical Assn. conference in Dallas denounced an aborted endorsement deal with Sunbeam Corp. and debated whether to call for an outside investigation. At stake, many doctors said, is the AMA’s reputation. The organization has tried to withdraw from the deal to endorse Sunbeam’s health-care products, prompting the Delray Beach, Fla.-based company to sue the AMA for $20 million. At the annual meeting of AMA House of Delegates--which is made up of 475 member-physicians who represent all 50 state medical societies--Thomas Reardon, chairman of the AMA board of trustees, told a committee that the board has taken steps to repair whatever damage the AMA’s reputation has suffered because of the controversy. Reardon, who has been under fire since word of the deal became public, also said that the board had been unaware of the agreement and that it was orchestrated at a lower level. However, the committee plans to submit several resolutions for a vote Tuesday. Among them are calls for Reardon’s resignation, for an internal investigation and for the hiring of an outside company to look into the matter.