Financial Conflict of Interest: an Unresolved Ethical Frontier

Financial conflict of interest has become one of the most contentious issues in medicine today. Several decades ago studies disclosed that physicians who had investments in medical facilities were referring patients for more tests and procedures than physicians who had no such investments. More recently, physicians who forego expensive tests and treatments for patients have been accused of skimping on care for personal financial gain. Physicians who emphatically tout certain treatments have been criticized for possessing hidden financial ties to the manufacturer of the products. Some physicians engaged in clinical trials have been suspected of enrolling patients who do not strictly conform to the research protocols so that they can collect fees from contract research organizations. And in the aftermath of deaths and complications in gene therapy experiments, some scientists and their institutions have been criticized for possessing a financial stake in companies that are involved in the studies.