While the U.S. is facing a shortage of infectious disease professionals, new research has emerged suggesting that nearly one-third of them may also have some form of conflicting interest with drug companies.
The research, published April 17 in JAMA by infectious disease experts in Minnesota, "assessed the prevalence of conflicts of interest associated with guideline-recommended drugs among Infectious Diseases Society of America clinical practice guideline authors and compliance with Council on Medical Specialty Societies and Institute of Medicine guidelines."
They looked at disclosed relationships, positions of relationships such as chair and co-chair, and the timeline of relationships and found that overall, "Approximately one-half of authors disclosed a relationship with any pharmaceutical company, and one-third had 1 or more [conflicts of interest] or high-level [conflicts of interest]."
Becker's reached out to the Infectious Diseases Society of America to provide further insight on these findings and will update once more information becomes available.