Law Commons^™

Financial Conflicts Of Interest In Science, Joanna K. Sax

Faculty Scholarship

This article proposes that an analysis of behavior may be utilized to create an effective policy addressing financial conflicts of interest. Importantly, this article focuses on the academics that conduct basic science.

An understanding of the background of the public-private interaction is critical to fully appreciate the rise of the financial conflicts of interest in biomedical science. Part II of this Article describes the rise of financial conflicts of interest and the types of harms that can occur in the absence of effective policy to regulate financial conflicts of interest.

Part III describes the current system addressing conflicts of interest, …

Application Of Default Rules To Address Financial Conflicts Of Interest In Academic Medical Centers, Joanna K. Sax

Faculty Scholarship

A recent report issued from the Institute of Medicine contains an extensive analysis of financial conflicts of interest (FCOIs) in biomedical science. In brief, an FCOI exists when a profit-seeking motive either unduly influences or appears to influence an academic scientist’s primary obligations. The cornerstone of current policy to address FCOIs at academic medical centers (AMCs) is disclosure; however, disclosure does not appear to appropriately regulate, manage, or eliminate FCOIs.

Although the relationships between intramural scientists and industry and extramural scientists and industry may be structurally different, they both can lead to FCOIs that threaten scientific integrity. Overall, the NIH …