Conflict of interest in online point-of-care clinical support websites.
J Med Ethics
; 40(8): 578-80, 2014 Aug.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-24493079
ABSTRACT
Point-of-care evidence-based medicine websites allow physicians to answer clinical queries using recent evidence at the bedside. Despite significant research into the function, usability and effectiveness of these programmes, little attention has been paid to their ethical issues. As many of these sites summarise the literature and provide recommendations, we sought to assess the role of conflicts of interest in two widely used websites UpToDate and Dynamed. We recorded all conflicts of interest for six articles detailing treatment for the following conditions erectile dysfunction, fibromyalgia, hypogonadism, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn's disease. These diseases were chosen as their medical management is either controversial, or they are treated using biological drugs which are mostly available by brand name only. Thus, we hypothesised that the role of conflict of interest would be more significant in these conditions than in an illness treated with generic medications or by strict guidelines. All articles from the UpToDate articles demonstrated a conflict of interest. At times, the editor and author would have a financial relationship with a company whose drug was mentioned within the article. This is in contrast with articles on the Dynamed website, in which no author or editor had a documented conflict. We offer recommendations regarding the role of conflict of interest disclosure in these point-of-care evidence-based medicine websites.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Practice Patterns, Physicians'
/
Conflict of Interest
/
Point-of-Care Systems
/
Decision Support Systems, Clinical
/
Internet
/
Drug Industry
/
Insurance, Health
Type of study:
Guideline
/
Prognostic_studies
Aspects:
Ethics
Limits:
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
America do norte
Language:
En
Journal:
J Med Ethics
Year:
2014
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
United States
Publication country:
ENGLAND
/
ESCOCIA
/
GB
/
GREAT BRITAIN
/
INGLATERRA
/
REINO UNIDO
/
SCOTLAND
/
UK
/
UNITED KINGDOM