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Medical schools and research universities must develop
and implement financial conflict of interest (COI) policies. That’s the
conclusion of a joint advisory committee of the Association of American
Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the Association of American Universities (AAU).
The policies are essential, the committee said. As AAU President Robert M.
Berdahl said when the committee’s report was released last February,
"Financial or personal gain must not be allowed to compromise patient safety
or the validity of human subjects research.”
The committee worked for two years to refine and
amplify the associations’ COI policy recommendations and to develop specific
guidelines. The report offers a model template for analyzing and managing
conflict of interest cases and ten detailed case studies based on real
situations. The report is available on the Web at the
“Publications” link.
MSU adopted a general Faculty Conflict of Interest (COI)
Policy in April 2006 and is working to implement it. Terry May was
named faculty conflict of interest information officer (FCOIIO) last
December to provide information about and guidance through the process of
identifying and managing COIs (see Research News, Winter 2008).
May is available to meet with groups of any size to
discuss COI issues. “It’s up to all of us at MSU to determine the best ways
to implement our COI policy,” he says. In addition to maintaining a
comprehensive COI Web site,
May offers programs on COI and other compliance issues. This year a lecture
series in honor of Hans Kende brought two experts on integrity in research
to campus:
- Paul Friedman, professor emeritus of radiology,
University of California, San Diego, presented “An Introduction to
Integrity in Research”
- Brian Martinson, senior research investigator at
HealthPartners Research Foundation in Minneapolis, spoke on “Scientists’
Misbehaviors and their Relationship with Mentoring”
Next fall’s Kende Memorial Lecture speaker on September
17 will be Jeffrey Drazen, editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of
Medicine. His topic will be responsible authorship. May is planning a
program on COI for the spring meeting. “Everyone involved with research is
encouraged to attend these lectures,” May says.
He also organizes a responsible conduct of research
series designed primarily for graduate students. Seven presentations over
the course of the academic year feature some of MSU’s top researchers
speaking on the ethics of conducting research. “Last year we gave xx
certificates to students who attended all seven sessions,” May says (see
sidebar). “It was a very successful year.” Next year’s series will be
announced on the Graduate School Web site
this summer.
MSU is a member of AAU, an association of 62 leading
public and private research universities in the United States and Canada.
AAMC represents all 129 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical
schools. |