Grundy Quinn, Tierney Lisa, Mayes Christopher, Lipworth Wendy
Faculty of Pharmacy, Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, D17, Level 6, The Hub, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.
Sydney Health Ethics, School of Public Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
J Bioeth Inq. 2017 Dec;14(4):541-553. doi: 10.1007/s11673-017-9804-y. Epub 2017 Sep 14.
Conflicts of interest, stemming from relationships between health professionals and the pharmaceutical industry, remain a highly divisive and inflammatory issue in healthcare. Given that most jurisdictions rely on industry to self-regulate with respect to its interactions with health professionals, it is surprising that little research has explored industry leaders' understandings of conflicts of interest. Drawing from in-depth interviews with ten pharmaceutical industry leaders based in Australia, we explore the normalized and structural management of conflicts of interest within pharmaceutical companies. We contrast this with participants' unanimous belief that the antidote to conflicts of interest with health professionals were "informed consumers." It is, thus, unlikely that a self-regulatory approach will be successful in ensuring ethical interactions with health professionals. However, the pharmaceutical industry's routine and accepted practices for disclosing and managing employees' conflicts of interest could, paradoxically, serve as an excellent model for healthcare.
源于医疗专业人员与制药行业之间关系的利益冲突，在医疗保健领域仍然是一个极具争议性和煽动性的问题。鉴于大多数司法管辖区依赖制药行业在与医疗专业人员的互动方面进行自我监管，令人惊讶的是，很少有研究探讨行业领导者对利益冲突的理解。通过对澳大利亚十位制药行业领导者的深入访谈，我们探讨了制药公司内部利益冲突的常态化和结构化管理。我们将此与参与者一致认为的与医疗专业人员利益冲突的解药是“明智的消费者”这一观点进行对比。因此，自我监管方法不太可能成功确保与医疗专业人员的道德互动。然而，制药行业披露和管理员工利益冲突的常规且被接受的做法，却可能反常地成为医疗保健的一个绝佳典范。
