Scientists And Conflicts of Interest

More news this week regarding researchers and organizations who sponsor medical research. According to reports, they can expect increased scrutiny from federal regulators who are looking for potential financial conflicts of interest. According to an article published on Yahoo News, the increased focus is partially the result of the 1999 death of an 18-year-old who died during a gene therapy trial.

At a recent conference, researchers were cautioned against paying study subjects for referring other potential subjects for study. The FDA first proposed financial disclosure rules in 1994 and those rules were issued in 1998. The rules were intended to disclose and identify any financial interests clinical investigators may have when performing studies. The FDA is expected to have a final report on financial disclosure rules available soon.

According to the article, and FDA survey found that 25 percent of those participating had disclosed some form of potential financial benefit for the clinical investigator. This information was found after the FDA rule went into effect.

Yahoo News: Researchers’ Interest Conflicts Scrutinized