Half of the experts involved in writing recent treatment guidelines for heart patients reported a conflict of interest, U.S. researchers said on Monday, raising worries about whose interests are being served.
Even though the experts are disclosing their ties to companies that produce heart drugs and devices, the phenomenon is important because the guidelines they produce are used to help train new doctors, thus can have long-lasting impact on the way patients are treated.
"Because they (guidelines) are so important, the process for producing them is also important. They need to be above suspicion," said Dr. James Kirkpatrick of the University of Pennsylvania, who worked on the study in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
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