Toward a Harmonized and Centralized Conflict of Interest Disclosure: Progress From an IOM Initiative

The 2009 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report Conflict of Interest in Medical Research, Education, and Practice¹ recognized the benefits that accrue when physicians and researchers collaborate with companies in the biomedical industry. Because the committee also recognized that certain financial ties can unduly influence professional judgment, it proposed a series of recommendations to help manage conflicts of interest (COIs). The core of those management strategies relies on the disclosure of relationships between individual researchers and the relevant companies.