Professional Documents
Culture Documents
would allow listeners to keep those relationships in mind commercial relationships might not actually influence the
while weighing comments? ILCOR chose an approach to scientists involved in the research or the review does not
disclosure that, to our knowledge, has never been used before. remove the potential for the public to be rightfully concerned
For the duration of every speaker’s comments, the speaker’s about potential bias. The integrity of our current and future
COI disclosure slide was projected on a screen separate from consensus statements and guidelines depends on the public
the screen used to display presentation slides. This practice trust. We must work to continue to earn it year after year.
was followed for all scheduled speakers, panelists, and
moderators as well as for anyone who asked questions or References
made comments from the floor. The disclosure slide listed 1. American Heart Association in collaboration with International Liaison
research sponsored by industry, consultancies, paid speakers Committee on Resuscitation. Guidelines 2000 for Cardiopulmonary
Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care. Circulation. 2000;
bureau roles and lectureships, gifts, investments, patents, and 102(suppl):I1-I384.
other relationships with the potential to influence the speaker. 2. Kassirer J. On the Take: How Medicine’s Complicity with Big Business
This novel disclosure method is described in detail in another Can Endanger Your Health. New York, NY: Oxford University Press;
2004.
editorial.6 For the most part, participants responded favorably
3. Choudhry NK, Stelfox HT, Detsky AS. Relationships between authors of
to the disclosure method, which was quick, unobtrusive, and clinical practice guidelines and the pharmaceutical industry. JAMA. 2002;
uniform and offered the added benefit of reminding the 287:612– 617.
audience of the speaker’s name, especially important for 4. Krimsky S. Science in the Private Interest: Has the Lure of Profits
Corrupted Biomedical Research? Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and
speakers from the floor. Littlefield Publishers, Inc.; 2003.
Although the COI management policies and practices used 5. Krimsky S, Rothenberg LS. Conflict of interest policies in science and
in 2005 by the AHA and ILCOR set a new standard for COI medical journals: editorial practices and author disclosures. Sci Eng
management and disclosure, the AHA and the rest of the Ethics. 2001;7:205–218.
6. Billi JE, Zideman D, Eigel B, Nolan J, Montgomery W, Nadkarni V, from
scientific community should not yet be satisfied. Because the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) and
substantial industry investment is often needed for scientific American Heart Association (AHA). 2005 American Heart Association
discovery and the invention of new technologies, those who Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardio-
vascular Care. Editorial: Conflict of interest management before, during
commit to evidence review and development of guidelines
and after the 2005 International Consensus Conference on Cardiopulmo-
must remain vigilant for new relationships that could pose a nary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care Science With
problem or the appearance of a conflict. The fact that most Treatment Recommendations. Circulation. 2005;112:III-131–III-132.