Below is a presentation, in French, by one of my Masters students — Charles Marsan — who’s doing his research COI in the context of veterinary medicine, with a particular focus on small animal (pets) practice.
Here’re some news stories that caught my eye:
Setting standards and medical guidelines
Transitioning from Academic to Decision Maker
Policy Updates
Here’s a short (6min) and entertaining TED talk by Dan Ariely — Beware Conflicts of Interest — on recognizing COI in our professional and research lives. The important point that he makes is that sometimes COI appear obvious, even egregious, while at other times we may not even recognize their presence, until we have time to reflect on why we have behaved a certain way or made certain choices. So a first step, then, in dealing with COI is recognizing that they exist…
As I’ve commented on numerous occasions, good COI policies are an important (if not sufficient) means of supporting staff and creating an environment where COI are actively managed, not hidden or ignored. A good starting point is this tool — Writing a Conflict of Interest Policy — developed by Chris MacDonald, who’s an expert in business ethics (Businessethicsblog.com) with significant research and consultation experience developing codes of ethics and addressing COI situations (e.g., Conflict of Interest for Mayors (and Other Committee Chairs)). As Chris notes,
All kinds of organizations need a Conflict of Interest policy. Experience suggests that many people have only a vague idea of what Conflict of Interest is, or how to deal with it. And yet dealing properly with COI is crucial to maintaining organizational integrity and reputation. A well-written policy is a great place to start.
The following article in the Boston Globe (Deeply conflicted) gives a wonderful overview of the fascinating psychological and economic research being conducted by Daylian Cain, Don Moore and George Loewenstein on the limits of disclosure as an effective mechanism for managing COI (see also their excellent 2005 book: Conflicts of Interest: Challenges and Solutions in Business, Law, Medicine, and Public Policy).
The take home message is that in many situations, disclosure not only does not eliminate the COI, but it can make the conflict even worse because 1) the party receiving the disclosure of COI (a patient, members of a committee) may be even less inclined to be critical of the person disclosing, and 2) by disclosing their COI, people may feel (unconsciously) that they’ve dealt with the issue and can even behave less ethically. The result is that in some circumstances, disclosure might simply not work in managing COI and reducing the associate harms or risks.
Furthermore, as Moore admits, in some cases the high costs of eliminating conflicts of interest may not be worth the effort. But in circumstances where conflicts cause harm, changing the system could be worthwhile. Regulators, Moore says, need to look for ways to structure systems so that experts’ personal interests are matched with the interests of those they are helping. “Restructuring to align interests is difficult,” he says, “but when you do it, it can be beautiful.”