Academic medical associations offer conflict-of-interest proposal

In the wake of several recent scandals over academics who failed to disclose industry relationships, two key academic medical associations have come together to offer suggestions on how to regulate conflicts of interest in federally-funded research.

The Association of American Medical Colleges and the Association of American Universities submitted their recommendations to the National Institutes of Health in response to a request for comments on proposed rulemaking. The groups' suggestions include that covered investigators should be required to report all external financial interests to their institution--whether directly or indirectly related to their research, and regardless of amount.

They're also recommending that NIH lower the financial threshold for investigator financial relationships to $5,000, from the current $10,000, at which universities must tip off the agency. Until then, the groups suggest, institutions should be required to turn over additional data on managed conflicts of interest, and disclose full management plans upon request.

To learn more about this proposal:
- read this Modern Healthcare piece [1] (reg. req.)

Related Articles:
Emory punishes psychiatrist Nemeroff for drug company ties [2]
Massachusetts General Hospital censures psychiatrist [3]
FDA tightens conflict-of-interest rules for advisers [4]
Harvard Med School strengthens conflict-of-interest rules [5]