PATIENTS CARE ABOUT CURES, NOT CONFLICT OF INTEREST
More than a third of doctors who sit on review boards overseeing the integrity of clinical trials do not bother to disclose a financial stake in the outcome, a study in the New England Journal of Medicine has shown. However this does not shock cancer patients. In the same journal another study found that 80% were “not worried at all” if a doctor profited from a tested drug. In fact, most patients said that they opposed bans on such relationships. The author of the study said that this was quite understandable since participants in clinical trials “are very vulnerable, have a serious problem and want someone to care for it.”
Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.
Latest posts by Michael Cook (see all)
- How long can you put off seeing the doctor because of lockdowns? - December 3, 2021
- House of Lords debates assisted suicide—again - October 28, 2021
- Spanish government tries to restrict conscientious objection - October 28, 2021
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