scholarly journals Conflicts of interest in the reporting of biomedical research in mainstream newspapers in Canada

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Steven Douglas Buist

Ethical behaviour by investigators is the cornerstone of scientific research. Recognizing, declaring and avoiding a conflict of interest are key responsibilities for biomedical researchers, particularly since commercial enterprises, such as pharmaceutical companies, have become major funding sources of research. Proactive disclosure of researchers' financial relationships is now a requirement for publication in most scientific journals. The question that arises is whether this same increased scrutiny of financial disclosure and potential for conflict of interest has extended to the mainstream press in Canada. A content analysis of biomedical research articles that appeared in Canadian daily newspapers from 2001 to 2008 showed that 82 per cent of the articles failed to identify the financial connection that existed between the researcher(s) and the commercial funder, and nearly half of the articles did not even identify the commercial funding source of the research. A text analysis showed that 94 per cent of the articles were positive about the drug/device cited by the research, and positive, optimistic words such as “breakthrough”, “significant”, “hope” and “promising” were often used in the news articles. Reporters frequently frame biomedical research articles using a battle-like template that describes a fight between good and evil. Another common approach was to frame the article as a message of hope for the future. A genre analysis showed that the genre of medical research news articles published in newspapers is highly dissimilar to the genre of medical research articles published in scientific journals. It is likely these two genres have been constructed to appeal to very different target audiences. The study results show overwhelmingly that readers are not provided with key information about potential financial conflicts of interest involving the researchers and the commercial sources of funding for the research. Such lack of transparency thwarts the reader’s ability to reach informed conclusions about whether or not the research has been either explicitly or implicitly influenced by the researcher’s potential conflict.

Author(s):  
R K Shah ◽  
M Alotaibi

<p>The conflict of interest amongst the professionals like client and contractor project managers, site engineers, quantity surveyors and designers/architects play crucial roles for the unethical practices and consequently these practices have adverse impact on the product quality, faith of clients and investors’ confidence in the construction industry. Hence, this research is aimed at examining the common forms of unethical practices among professionals in the construction industry as well as uncovering the factors that have encouraged these practices. This study depends on the questionnaire survey amongst professionals of the construction industry. The survey is conducted to recognise the view of key stakeholders from different perspectives of the affected parties on the concept of business ethics in the building and construction industry, which has key contribution on the national economic growth of the developing countries. The survey concludes that untimely legal action including changing project manager’s responsibility and delays in payment processes are key ethical practices from owner/client aspect, while contractor’s unethical practices are under bidding, bid cutting and shopping, bid rigging and over billing. But from the consultant aspect; lack of supervision, poor monitoring and taking bribes under different pretend are found to be the encouraging factors for unethical conducts in the construction industry. It is also found that accepting the bribes, gifts and conflicts of interest are the most common forms of unethical practices. The findings from the study are expected to help as an important eye opener to policy makers and regulatory agencies in detecting and preventing unethical practices. In conclusion, avoiding the conflict of interest and promoting the ethic codes to professionals will help to restore the investor and people confidence, faith of the clients and improve the quality of buildings and infrastructures. The study recommends that promoting awareness regarding the values of ethical behaviour at different forum and ensuring the effective punishment for unethical activities at different stages of project life cycle might reduce the unethical practices in the construction industry.</p><p><strong>Journal of Advanced College of Engineering and Management</strong>, Vol. 3, 2017,  Page: 55-77</p>


2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. 146-146
Author(s):  
Jacques Belghiti ◽  
Stéphanie Luzio ◽  
David Fuks ◽  
Gregory Emery

INTRODUCTION:To minimize the potential impact of conflicts of interest on health recommendations, several health institutions may be reluctant to recruit academic physicians due to their potential close relationship with industry. The present study aimed at evaluating the influence of academic physicians (AP) on the “rate of deport” due to financial support in the national commission of the HAS assessing medical devices.METHODS:After the renewal of this commission in November 2015, introducing patients representatives and more academic physicians, two periods of 12 months immediately before and after that date have been compared regarding the rate of deport during the sessions. Deport were decided by the legal section of our institution one week before each meeting according to a complete analysis of potential financial conflict of interest related to the medical device assessed. Only members without significant financial conflicts were allowed to participate to the discussion and the vote. The assessment of potential conflict of interest of all members followed the same criteria during the two periods.RESULTS:The number of physicians increased in the second period (nineteen versus twenty-three) with a significant higher rate of academic physicians (63 percent versus 82 percent, p = .001). The mean attendance of physicians was significantly lower during the second period (80 percent versus 65 percent, p = .03). During the two periods, the number of meetings (n = 22) was similar and the number of dossiers assessing new products was comparable (96 versus 104, p = .872). The decision to reimburse the medical devices was similar in the two periods (78 percent versus 73 percent, p = .681). The number of cases when physicians’ members were deported for conflict of interest was similar during the two periods (30 versus 28, p = .482) with not any increase among academic physicians.CONCLUSIONS:This study showed that it is possible to recruit several academic physicians without major financial conflicts of interest providing that their status could alter their assiduity.


2006 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-202
Author(s):  
Fernando Portela Câmara

This article discusses the relationship between personal interests and medical research. The presence of research professionals who conduct studies which will later be used for market investments through new pharmaceutical products or procedures has brought up a number of issues, especially regarding the neutrality of the use of such products. The fact that some researchers receive shares in stocks and profits of some companies, and the way the companies finance them and use their credibility in scientific marketing have been a source of concern to scientific journals, the academic community and the better-informed public as to the validity of the results presented and the reliability of the pharmaceutical products themselves. The question of how neutrality can be preserved without the inevitable involvement of these interests is an ethical issue that has yet to be carefully examined by agencies that regulate the medical profession.


2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-62
Author(s):  
Dmytrychenko-Kuleba G ◽  

To date, the study of such categories as conflict of interest, real conflict of interest, potential conflict of interest is important in the field of public administration. After all, the work of the subjects of power in a real or potential conflict of interest interferes with the work of the enterprise, institution, organization. This negatively affects the efficiency, effectiveness of public administration, leads to negative economic and legal consequences. The object of research is the prevention and settlement of conflicts of interest. The purpose of the work is to analyze ways to prevent and resolve conflicts of interest. Research method – method of comparison, method of analysis. KEYWORDS: CONFLICT OF INTERESTS, REAL CONFLICT OF INTERESTS, POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTERESTS, PUBLIC GOVERNANCE.


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pascal Probst ◽  
Kathrin Grummich ◽  
Ulla Klaiber ◽  
Phillip Knebel ◽  
Alexis Ulrich ◽  
...  

AbstractConflicts of interest may lead to biased trial designs and unbalanced interpretation of study results. We aimed to evaluate the reporting of potential conflicts of interest in full publications of surgical randomised controlled trials (RCTs). A systematic literature search was performed in CENTRAL, MEDLINE and EMBASE (1985–2014) to find all surgical RCTs of medical devices and perioperative pharmacological or nutritional interventions. The information on conflicts of interest was evaluated both quantitatively and qualitatively, and the development of stated conflicts over time was studied. Of 7934 articles, 444 met the inclusion criteria. In 93 of 444 trials (20.9%), conflicts of interest were disclosed. In half of the cases, the information provided was insufficient to permit conclusions regarding possible influence on the trials. Information about conflicts of interest has increased continuously during the last decades (1985–1994: 0%, 1995–2004: 2.8% and 2005–2014: 33.0%; p<0.001). Among the 115 industry-funded trials, industry participation was considered as a potential conflict of interest in 24 cases (20.9%). Over the past three decades, only every 10th trial has provided appropriate information on conflicts of interest. However, transparency is crucial for the reliability of evidence-based medicine. There is an urgent need for the full disclosure of all conflicts of interest in surgical publishing and for transparency regarding cooperation between academia and industry.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 2473011419S0003
Author(s):  
Cory F. Janney ◽  
Kiya Shazadeh Safavi ◽  
Greg Schneider ◽  
Daniel Jupiter ◽  
Vinod Panchbhavi

Category: Ethics Introduction/Purpose: The objective of our study was to analyze COI nondisclosure for US based research articles that were published to three prevalent orthopaedic journals from the beginning of 2014 to the end of 2016. Methods: All US-based research articles published to FAI, JBJS, and JOA from the beginning of 2014 to the end of 2016 were reviewed. COI disclosure sections were analyzed to determine if a disclosure was made for first and/or last authors. Authors disclosing any financial relationship involving employment, royalties/licensing, speaking, and consulting fees were recorded as having disclosed a potential COI. First and last authors were then searched for using CMS Open Payments search tool to determine if they had received any of the aforementioned payment types. To determine if a COI nondisclosure (disclosure discrepancy) was present, an author’s disclosure statement for a published article was compared to CMS Open Payments data from the year prior to publication of the article. We used CMS data from the year prior to a publication to account for the time it takes to construct a paper and have it published. Results: Across all journals and years, we obtained disclosure accuracy data for 3,465 total first and last authors publishing 1,770 research articles. Within this sample, 7.1% (245/3,465) of the authors had a recorded undisclosed conflict-of-interest and 13.2% (233/1,770) of articles had a first and/or last author with an undisclosed potential conflict-of-interest. When looking at each journal individually over the three-year period, FAI contained the highest percentage of authors with undisclosed COI’s (42.3%), JBJS contained the lowest percent of authors with an undisclosed COI (4.6%), and JOA had an intermediate amount of authors with an undisclosed COI (7.0%). Conclusion: Discrepancies between payment disclosures made by authors and those published in the CMS database were present in all three journals reviewed in this study. The percentage of articles containing an author with a disclosure discrepancy varies widely between these journals. However, when analyzing the percentage of disclosure discrepancies by year, no trend was found.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-149
Author(s):  
Aurelia Teodora Drăghici

SummaryTheme conflicts of interest is one of the major reasons for concern local government, regional and central administrative and criminal legal implications aiming to uphold the integrity and decisions objectively. Also, most obviously, conflicts of interest occur at the national level where political stakes are usually highest, one of the determining factors of this segment being the changing role of the state itself, which creates opportunities for individual gain through its transformations.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS

International Scientific Journals (ISJ) are the open access, peer-reviewed, International Journals, that provides rapid publication (Bi-Monthly) of research articles, review articles and short communications in all the fields of Science, Engineering, Management, Technology, and Social Sciences. Available online at https://int-scientific-journals.com


Author(s):  
Katherine Severi

Ralston et al present an analysis of policy actor responses to a draft World Health Organization (WHO) tool to prevent and manage conflicts of interest (COI) in nutrition policy. While the Ralston et al study is focussed explicitly on food and nutrition, the issues and concepts addressed are relevant also to alcohol policy debates and present an important opportunity for shared learning across unhealthy commodity industries in order to protect and improve population health. This commentary addresses the importance of understanding how alcohol policy actors – especially decision-makers – perceive COI in relation to alcohol industry engagement in policy. A better understanding of such perceptions may help to inform the development of guidelines to identify, manage and protect against risks associated with COI in alcohol policy.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0272989X2110088
Author(s):  
Rachel Thompson ◽  
Zoe Paskins ◽  
Barry G. Main ◽  
Thaddeus Mason Pope ◽  
Evelyn C. Y. Chan ◽  
...  

Background More stringent policies for addressing conflicts of interest have been implemented around the world in recent years. Considering the value of revisiting conflict of interest quality standards set by the International Patient Decision Aid Standards (IPDAS) Collaboration, we sought to review evidence relevant to 2 questions: 1) What are the effects of different strategies for managing conflicts of interest? and 2) What are patients’ perspectives on conflicts of interest? Methods We conducted a narrative review of English-language articles and abstracts from 2010 to 2019 that reported relevant quantitative or qualitative research. Results Of 1743 articles and 118 abstracts identified, 41 articles and 2 abstracts were included. Most evidence on the effects of conflict of interest management strategies pertained only to subsequent compliance with the management strategy. This evidence highlighted substantial noncompliance with prevailing requirements. Evidence on patient perspectives on conflicts of interest offered several insights, including the existence of diverse views on the acceptability of conflicts of interest, the salience of conflict of interest type and monetary value to patients, and the possibility that conflict of interest disclosure could have unintended effects. We identified no published research on the effects of IPDAS Collaboration conflict of interest quality standards on patient decision making or outcomes. Limitations Because we did not conduct a systematic review, we may have missed some evidence relevant to our review questions. In addition, our team did not include patient partners. Conclusions The findings of this review have implications for the management of conflicts of interest not only in patient decision aid development but also in clinical practice guideline development, health and medical research reporting, and health care delivery.


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