Report calls for strict conflict of interest rules

By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Doctors need to stop taking handouts from drug and medical device companies if they want to clean up the perception that industry has too much influence over the practice of medicine, the Institute of Medicine said Tuesday.

The institute, one of the National Academies of Sciences that advises U.S. policymakers, said doctors need to voluntarily swear off lunches, drug samples and strictly disclose research funding to strengthen protections against financial conflicts of interest.

"It is time to end a number of long-accepted practices that create unacceptable conflicts of interest, threaten the integrity of the medical profession, and erode public trust while providing no meaningful benefits to patients or society," said Dr. Bernard Lo, chair of the committee that wrote the report and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

"We also need more specific disclosure of the financial relationships that doctors and researchers have with medical industries," Lo said in a statement.

Concern over research integrity in the United States has become more pronounced following accusations last year by Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley that prominent Harvard University psychiatrist Dr. Joseph Biederman and others failed to fully disclose payments from drug companies.

The report called for virtually anyone involved in the practice of medicine -- academic medical centers, journals, professional societies, researchers and doctors -- to set up or strengthen conflict of interest guidelines.

Doctors who have any financial ties with industry should disclose them not only to their employers, but also to relevant medical organizations.

The report also called for more uniformity in conflict of interest policies, and said current policies vary widely and many offer insufficient protections.