Conflicting interests in biomedical research and medical practice.

A conflict of interest exists when decisions made by a person or institution are affected by direct financial interests or by non-financial issues, such as personal relationships, business associations, and membership in political, national or other groups. These circumstances favor secondary interests over primary interests in medicine and can influence contributions to science and health. Regardless of individual life experiences and personal background, physicians and other health professionals should strive to remain conflict-free. This paper illustrates conflicts of interests in biomedical research and medical practice caused by financial and nonfinancial influences. It also assesses how medical journals, professional organizations, healthcare, and government examine these issues. Presented examples of potential conflicting interests are related to healthcare industry, psychiatry and psychology (e.g., 'enhanced interrogation techniques'), sports medicine, and in the publication process of biomedical journals (authors, editors and peer reviewers). In order to avoid potential conflicting interests, today majority of medical journals request from the authors to disclose any such interests in a written statement on a form prepared by the ICMJE on the journal. This disclosure includes payments for consulting, speaking, honoraria, research support, personal relationships, and institutional conflicts of intersts that may influence the work presented in the submitted manuscript. The editor will decide on potentially relevant conflicting interest in the disclosure and publish it.