Authors

  1. Wiwanitkit, Viroj MD

Article Content

Dear Editor,

 

I read the recent publication on transparency in research with great interest.1 Boumil and Berman1 concluded that "there is little consensus on how the disclosure of a financial relationship with an industry sponsor affects confidence in the research." Indeed, the financial relationship with an industry sponsor is a big issue to be addressed. Recently, Boyd and Bero2 said that "Faculty researchers are increasingly involved in financial relationships with their research sponsors." It might not be a topic that there is a disclosure or not, because the disclosure might be a disguising piece of declaration. Of interest, Lo et al3 reported that only 10% of medical schools had a good policy according to the standards to control the conflict of interest. Of interest, this report is from developed countries3; hence, the poorer situation might be expected in developing countries. The question that remained is whether the report from the accredited source such as medical schools can be reliable.

 

Viroj Wiwanitkit, MD

 

Wiwanitkit House

 

Bangkhae, Bangkok

 

Thailand

 

[email protected]

 

REFERENCES

 

1. Boumil MM, Berman H. Transparency in research and its effect on the perception of research integrity. JONAS Healthc Law Ethics Regul. 2010;12(3):64-68. [Context Link]

 

2. Boyd EA, Bero LA. Assessing faculty financial relationships with industry: a case study. JAMA. 2000;284(17):2209-2214. [Context Link]

 

3. Lo B, Wolf LE, Berkeley A. Conflict-of-interest policies for investigators in clinical trials. N Engl J Med. 2000;343(22):1616-1620. [Context Link]