IOM Issues Report on Conflict of Interest

On Tuesday, April 28^th, the Institute of Medicine published the report of a committee it had appointed in 2007 to examine conflicts of interests in all facets of medicine.  The 392 page report, Conflict of Interest in Medical Research, Education, and Practice recommends steps to identify, limit, and manage financial conflicts of interest with commercial entities without harming constructive collaboration. The IOM committee calls for voluntary measures and regulations to both strengthen and standardize conflict of interest disclosure and management policies and compliance with policies. It also calls for professional associations to foster greater transparency and accountability of standards by publicizing the names of their members who have and have not adopted model standards and policies.

The Committee on Conflict of Interest in Medical Research, Education, and Practice that researched and wrote the report was chaired by Dr. Bernard Lo of the University of California-San Francisco. Among the other members of the Committee were Dr. Todd Dorman, Professor of Anesthesiology and Director of the Continuing Medical Education Program at Johns Hopkins, and Dr. Neil Powe, until recently a Professor in GIM and Director of the Welch Center here.

Click to read the IOM’s press release announcing the report’s publication.