IOM Seeks ASH Testimony on Conflict of Interest

The Society's policies concerning conflict of interest have evolved over time. ASH uses disclosure and peer review to identify conflicts and then manages them. For example, at this year's annual meeting, individuals invited to speak will be prohibited from also speaking at a corporate symposium. This decision was made to prevent the appearance of conflict that could result from having a speaker present at both a corporate-sponsored symposium and an ASH educational session. And, the Society now requires every committee chair to appoint a conflict-of-interest compliance officer.

From time to time, the target audience requires special treatment. No corporate contributions have been sought or obtained for funding of the Clinical Research Training Institute, but because of their knowledge of the drug development process, speakers who work for a pharmaceutical company may be included as faculty at the week-long initiation meeting. Another special circumstance is the development of clinical guidelines. Individuals with recent, relevant financial conflicts are prohibited from serving as a member of a clinical guideline writing committee.

ASH agrees with the AAMC that conflicts of interest extend to all phases of biomedical research. Thus, at the Clinical Research Training Institute, faculty discuss how, in preclinical research, financial conflicts can lead to bias. This includes clinical or translational research that may become a component of an IND submission or lead to research involving humans.

For more information, read the written testimony submitted to the IOM. One important note to mention is that ASH is developing a centralized, Web-based conflict-of-interest registry that will be fully online no later than 2010.