Conflict of interest, which is all over the Penn State fiasco, is…
Oh, I dunno. Coin of the realm. Everywhere. Universities try to deal with it by constantly tweaking their COI language in yearly faculty declaration forms, etc. Sterner rhetoric. More paragraphs to read before you sign. But there’s nothing they can do. COI. It’s a way of life.
So frinstance take this guy in England. He advises the government on health issues, and is very influential, but he’s always making the papers because of his generous pharma friends.
Questions over Professor Strang’s links come just months after he was criticised for failing to disclose ties to drug companies when applying for a government project.
… It is the second time in a year that Professor Strang’s pharmaceutical links have been questioned. In July, The Independent revealed how Professor Strang had failed to disclose links with drug companies that sell tranquilisers such as Valium before conducting a DH review into the same drugs. His report is guiding government policy in this area.