Health Professionals "Make Their Choice": Pharmaceutical Industry Leaders' Understandings of Conflict of Interest

Overview

Journal J Bioeth Inq

Publisher Springer

Specialty Medical Ethics

Date 2017 Sep 16

PMID 28913595

Citations 1

Authors

Quinn Grundy

Lisa Tierney

Christopher Mayes

Wendy Lipworth

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Conflicts of interest, stemming from relationships between health professionals and the pharmaceutical industry, remain a highly divisive and inflammatory issue in healthcare. Given that most jurisdictions rely on industry to self-regulate with respect to its interactions with health professionals, it is surprising that little research has explored industry leaders' understandings of conflicts of interest. Drawing from in-depth interviews with ten pharmaceutical industry leaders based in Australia, we explore the normalized and structural management of conflicts of interest within pharmaceutical companies. We contrast this with participants' unanimous belief that the antidote to conflicts of interest with health professionals were "informed consumers." It is, thus, unlikely that a self-regulatory approach will be successful in ensuring ethical interactions with health professionals. However, the pharmaceutical industry's routine and accepted practices for disclosing and managing employees' conflicts of interest could, paradoxically, serve as an excellent model for healthcare.

Citing Articles

Power to the People?.

Ashby M, Morrell B J Bioeth Inq. 2017; 14(4):457-459.

PMID: 29143188 DOI: 10.1007/s11673-017-9819-4.

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