Call for Conflict Hub

Biomedical groups propose a simplified system for the disclosure of potential conflicts of interests.

| 2 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
2:00
Share

Flickr, CarbonNYCIn a bid to increase transparency about researchers’ conflicts of interest, a group of biomedical institutions last week (November 28) proposed creating a central database to house all potential conflict data, and a harmonized system for disclosure. Outlined in a paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the database would hold records about fees for services, intellectual property rights, industry grants, and ownership stakes, as well as payments for food, travel, and lodging.

“A coherent, uniform system will not only reduce the time spent by researchers on administrative tasks, but will very likely improve the accuracy and clarity of disclosure reporting,” Allen Lichter, lead author of the paper and CEO at the American Society of Clinical Oncology, said in a statement.

The proposal comes shortly before the “sunshine” provisions of the Affordable Care Act comes into effect next year—a law that requires drug manufacturers to publish on their company websites any payments to physicians and researchers of $10 or greater. The law would add another layer of disclosure requirements to an already confused and complicated process, said the authors. To reduce the administrative burden and increase accessibility to disclosure records, representatives of several institutes including the US Food ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Keywords

Meet the Author

  • Dan Cossins

    This person does not yet have a bio.
Share
Image of a woman in a microbiology lab whose hair is caught on fire from a Bunsen burner.
April 1, 2025, Issue 1

Bunsen Burners and Bad Hair Days

Lab safety rules dictate that one must tie back long hair. Rosemarie Hansen learned the hard way when an open flame turned her locks into a lesson.

View this Issue
Conceptual image of biochemical laboratory sample preparation showing glassware and chemical formulas in the foreground and a scientist holding a pipette in the background.

Taking the Guesswork Out of Quality Control Standards

sartorius logo
An illustration of PFAS bubbles in front of a blue sky with clouds.

PFAS: The Forever Chemicals

sartorius logo
Unlocking the Unattainable in Gene Construction

Unlocking the Unattainable in Gene Construction

dna-script-primarylogo-digital
Concept illustration of acoustic waves and ripples.

Comparing Analytical Solutions for High-Throughput Drug Discovery

sciex

Products

Green Cooling

Thermo Scientific™ Centrifuges with GreenCool Technology

Thermo Fisher Logo
Singleron Avatar

Singleron Biotechnologies and Hamilton Bonaduz AG Announce the Launch of Tensor to Advance Single Cell Sequencing Automation

Zymo Research Logo

Zymo Research Launches Research Grant to Empower Mapping the RNome

Magid Haddouchi, PhD, CCO

Cytosurge Appoints Magid Haddouchi as Chief Commercial Officer