Invited Commentary

Commentary on “Reporting Potential Conflicts of Interest among Authors of Professional Medical Societies’ Guidelines”

Authors: LaVonne A. Downey, PhD

Abstract

“The more things change the more they stay the same” is a saying that explains the ongoing issues of reporting potential conflicts of interest within medicine. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) defines conflict of interest as a “set of circumstances that create a risk that professional judgment or actions requiring a primary interest will be unduly influenced by a secondary interest.”1 Studies have shown that the potential threat of conflict of interest has increased within the last decade because of the closer ties between the pharmaceutical and biomedical industries as well as between research and medical practitioners. Dr Mansi and colleagues demonstrate that the conflict of interest threat has not only grown but also expanded into newer more pervasive areas in their article “Reporting Potential Conflicts of Interest among Authors of Professional Medical Societies’ Guidelines” in this issue of the Journal.2 Cosgrove et al saw the potential impact of this trend in a study in which they found that 90% of authors who were responsible for developing clinical practice guidelines had financial ties to pharmaceutical companies whose products were identified within the guidelines as recommended treatments for specific mental illnesses.3

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References

1. Steinbrook R. Controlling conflict of interest—proposals from the Institute of Medicine. N Engl J Med 2009; 360: 2160–2163.
 
2. Khalil B, Aung KK, Mansi I. Reporting potential conflicts of interest among authors of professional medical societies’ guidelines. South Med J 2012; 105: 411–415.
 
3. Cosgrove L, Bursztajn H, Anaya S, et al. Conflict of interest and disclosure in the American Psychiatric Association’s clinical practice guidelines. Psychother Psychosom 2009; 78: 228–232.