Healthy Skepticism Library item: 15619

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: news

Goozner M.
NIH Seeks Public Input on Its Management of Conflicts of Interest
GoozNews (registration required) 2009 May 11
http://www.gooznews.com/node/2916

Full text:

The National Institutes of Health wants public input on whether it should amend its conflict of interest disclosure rules. These comments are due July 7. Read the Federal Register notice here and weep. The notice provides a pretty good rundown on the inadequacy of the current rules (by merely telling readers what they are). To learn NIH’s previous reaction (January 2008) to an Inspector General’s report castigating NIH for failing to police conflicts of interest at grantee institutions, see this GoozNews post.

Apparently, the recent Institute of Medicine report and growing support for the Physician Payments Sunshine Act (and perhaps the departure of Elias Zerhouni) led to a change of heart, or at least a willingness to entertain the notion that change is needed. “Complete and timely disclosure of financial interests and effective management of conflicts of interest are essential to ensuring objectivity in research,” the notice said. “We invite public comments on all aspects of potential regulation in this area.”