title: Time to 'walk the walk' about industry ties to enhance health.
abstract: Overwhelming evidence that relationships between universities, physicians and the medical products industry benefit patients explains the ubiquitous calls to encourage such relationships. Yet accumulating 'conflict of interest' regulations in academic health centers, government and industry have had the opposite effect. Justifications underlying the regulations lack quantitative rigor, and the rules they enforce impose costly bureaucratic requirements of dubious benefit. Evidence shows that they have diminished the collaborations deemed beneficial to health enhancement.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. tstossel@partners.org
authors.forename: Thomas P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Stossel
authors.forename: Lance K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Stell
mesh_terms: D000046:Academic Medical Centers / Q000941:ethics; D016265:Conflict of Interest; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D004345:Drug Industry / Q000941:ethics; D004864:Equipment and Supplies / Q000941:ethics; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D055818:Public-Private Sector Partnerships / Q000941:ethics; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical / Q000941:ethics; D014481:United States; D014486:United States Food and Drug Administration