Current
Competing interests, particularly those engendered by a desire
to advance scientific knowledge or to achieve professional
recognition, are an inescapable fact of academic life. Most
are managed through institutional policies and practices,
and through the constraints imposed by the scientific method.
Yet financial interests in human subjects research are distinct
from other interests inherent in academic life that might
impart bias or induce improper behavior, because financial
interests are discretionary, and because the perception is
widespread that they may entail special risks. Specifically,
opportunities to profit from research may affect - or appear
to affect - a researcher’s judgements about which subjects
to enroll, the clinical care provided to subjects, even the
proper use of subjects’ confidential health information.
Financial interests also threaten scientific integrity when
they foster real or apparent biases in study design, data
collection and analysis, adverse event reporting, or the presentation
and publication of research findings. At the same time, a
principled partnership between industry and academia is essential
if we are to preserve medical progress and to continue to
improve the health of our citizenry.
In October of 2000, in a speech entitled Trust Us to Make
A Difference, Dr. Jordan Cohen, President of the Association
of American Medical Colleges, announced the formation of a
new Task Force on Conflicts of Interest in Clinical Research
chaired by Dr. William Danforth, Chancellor Emeritus of Washington
University of St. Louis. Dr. Cohen charged this Task Force
to respond to deepening public concern over researchers’
perceived conflicts of interest by forging consensus principles
and guidelines for the over-sight of financial interests in
research involving human subjects.
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