(February 12, 2008 - Insidermedicine) Most medical schools in the U.S. have failed to institute policies that protect them from undue influence (or the appearance of this influence) from industry – such as private and public companies, according to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Here is some information about conflict of interest in medical schools:

•    Relationships between medical schools and industry, in which medical schools or their senior officials have a financial relationship with or a financial interest in a public or private company, are common.

•    In such cases, institutional conflicts of interest occur when these financial interests affect or even appear to affect the school’s policies or how it runs its research projects.

•    Potential conflicts of interest are of concern because they can affect both the integrity and reputation of a medical school.

Researchers from the Association of American Medical Colleges approached the deans of all 125 accredited medical schools in the United States to ask them about their institutions’ current conflict of interest policies. A total of 69% of the deans responded to the survey.

The good news is that most of the institutions surveyed have or are considering adopting conflict of interest policies that govern individuals, including senior and/or midlevel officials, institutional review board members, and governing board members. The bad news is that only 38% have such policies governing the action of the institutions themselves. Another 37%, however, are working on adopting such a policy.

This research demonstrates how most medical schools in the United States have failed to adopt the conflict of interest policies that can protect them from undue influence from industry as well as protect their reputations as independent centers of research and learning.

For Insidermedicine in Depth, I'm Dr. Susan Sharma.