english.prescrire.org > Spotlight > Archives : 2008 > Conflicts of interest: not taken seriously enough

Spotlight: Archives

Every month, the subjects in Prescrire’s Spotlight.

2008 : 1 | 30 | 60

Conflicts of interest: not taken seriously enough

It would benefit the public if the interests of certain influential figures in French pharmaceuticals and healthcare were made known.

There are huge financial interests at stake in the healthcare sector. Public health authorities should take care that their decisions are not influenced by vested interests. The issue of conflicts of interest is being taken increasingly seriously in the United States where, for example, the courts imposed a 300,000-dollar fine on the director of an Alzheimer's research institute who had received financial compensation from a pharmaceutical company.

France is slow to improve transparency, and even slower when it comes to preventing conflicts of interest: a sort of fatalism still prevails, with the authorities claiming that it is impossible to find experts who have no conflicts of interest.

Health professionals and citizens should campaign for conflicts of interest to be taken more seriously in France. Formindep, a doctors' association, succeeded in speeding up the publication of a decree (5 years after the law was passed) making it compulsory for health professionals to divulge any conflicts of interest when they speak in public (conferences, broadcasts, etc.). This new obligation still does not seem to be taken seriously by many health professionals or by the media. But any citizen is entitled to put the question directly to experts speaking in public or in the media.

©Prescrire January 2008

Source: "Conflits d'intérêts : faire appliquer la loi" Rev Prescrire 2008; 28 (291): 71-72.

- More articles in Prescrire's "Spotlight"...