Sharp Richard R, Scott Angela L, Landy David C, Kicklighter Laura A
Bioethics Research, Cleveland Clinic, 9500 Euclid Ave., Room JJ-60, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA.
Am J Bioeth. 2008 Aug;8(8):54-8; discussion W1-2. doi: 10.1080/15265160802317982.
Growing ties to private industry have prompted many to question the impartiality of academic bioethicists who receive financial support from for-profit corporations in exchange for ethics-related services and research. To the extent that corporate sponsors may view bioethics as little more than a way to strengthen public relations or avoid potential controversy, close ties to industry may pose serious threats to professional independence. New sources of support from private industry may also divert bioethicists from pursuing topics of greater social importance, such as the needs of medically underserved communities. To inform ongoing debates about the financing of bioethics and its transparency to those concerned about potential sources of bias, we examined funding disclosures appearing in original research reports in major bioethics journals. Reviewing research published over a 15-year period, we found little evidence that for-profit corporations are influencing bioethics research directly. Instead, we found evidence that a great number of organizations, both public and private, support bioethics research. These findings suggest that worries about the cooption of bioethics research by a few interested stakeholders are greatly overstated and undersupported by available data.
与私营企业日益紧密的联系促使许多人质疑学术生物伦理学家的公正性，这些学者从营利性公司获得资金支持，以换取与伦理相关的服务和研究。由于企业赞助商可能将生物伦理学仅仅视为加强公共关系或避免潜在争议的一种方式，与行业的密切联系可能对专业独立性构成严重威胁。来自私营企业的新的支持来源也可能使生物伦理学家偏离追求更具社会重要性的话题，比如医疗服务不足社区的需求。为了为正在进行的关于生物伦理学资金及其对那些关注潜在偏见来源的人的透明度的辩论提供信息，我们研究了主要生物伦理学杂志上原创研究报告中的资金披露情况。回顾15年期间发表的研究，我们几乎没有发现营利性公司直接影响生物伦理学研究的证据。相反，我们发现有证据表明，大量公共和私人组织支持生物伦理学研究。这些发现表明，对少数利益相关者对生物伦理学研究的拉拢的担忧被大大夸大了，现有数据也无法支持这些担忧。
