Opinion: Cancer researchers’ failure to disclose industry payments damages patient trust — and care
Treating cancer is one of the most difficult medical challenges of our time. In addition to requiring effective therapies and compassionate clinicians and caregivers, it demands trustworthy and transparent communication. A report in JAMA Internal Medicine that summarized payments from the drug and device industry to directors of National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers underscores the need to develop more rigorous strategies for reporting and monitoring.
Though the report showed that slightly more than half of the directors did not receive industry payments in 2017, slightly less than half did. While most were under $5,000, the NCI’s threshold for significant financial interest, one-third of all directors received payments for research and consulting well above that limit.
