The Key College Leaders (ACR President, ACR President-Elect, Rheumatology Research Foundation President, ARHP President and ARHP President-Elect) shall not participate in the following:

A: SUPPORT (GIFTS AND GRANTS)

1. Receipt of restricted or unrestricted support from commercial entities to the officer personally (this is not intended to include government funded research).
2. Direct solicitation of funding by the officer from commercial entities for their colleagues, practice or department.

B: CONSULTING/SERVICE

1. National leadership including serving as an officer and/or member of the board of directors in organizations that have competing interests with the College in fundraising, advocacy, or education, including, for example, nonprofits, medical or scientific organizations, except as representatives of the College.
2. Members of or consultants to FDA Advisory Committee on medications or devices, except as a representative of the College.
3. Participation in commercial entities speaker bureaus.
4. Presentations at educational programs managed or directed by commercial entities.
5. Participation as a consultant or as a member of a scientific advisory board for commercial entities, on steering committees or data safety monitoring boards for clinical trials or similar activities sponsored by commercial entities.
6. Participation as an advisor or medical/scientific consultant for a financial organization.

C: AUTHORSHIP/PRESENTATION

1. Authorship of articles of opinion or reports or reviews of research regarding - studies sponsored by commercial entities in a journal that is non-peer reviewed or operated by a commercial entity (except as a College spokesperson).
2. Authorship of commentaries or editorials on trials sponsored by a commercial entity (except as a College spokesperson).
3. Speaker, panelist, chair or moderator for a presentation on behalf of a study sponsored by a commercial entity.
4. Use of College title or position for non-College sponsored advocacy without explicit permission from the ACR Board of Directors.
5. Presenting author of commercial entity-sponsored research at ACR, ARHP and/or Foundation meetings.
6. Authorship of written or electronically produced or distributed material for a commercial entity.

D: AWARDS

1. Receipt of a new ACR, ARHP or Foundation award or grant.
2. Sponsorship including letters of endorsement of individuals for the ACR Awards of Distinction, ARHP Awards of Merit and Foundation awards and grants.

E: EXPERT WITNESS TESTIMONY

1. Begin an engagement to provide expert witness testimony on malpractice, intellectual property, or product liability during their tenure in those positions (except as a spokesperson for the College). If the key society leaders are already engaged in providing expert witness testimony in an active case, they may consult the Committee on Ethics and Conflict of Interest who will make a recommendation to the ACR Board of Directors regarding whether to continue because there may be circumstances in which serving as an expert witness is not in the best interests of the College.

The ACR Secretary and Treasurer shall not:
Hold a position of national leadership in organizations that have competing interests with the College in fundraising, advocacy, or education, including for example, nonprofits, medical or scientific organizations, except as a representative of the ACR and/or Foundation.

NOTE: Because each officer's individual circumstances are unique, exceptions to these guidelines may be considered by the Committee on Ethics and Conflict of Interest who will make a recommendation to the ACR Board of Directors.

Reviewed and Updated by the Committee on Ethics and Conflict of Interest July 2012
Approved by ACR Board of Directors August 2012