Conflict of Interest
From ethical point-of-view, what is the difference between an actual and an apparent conflict of interest? Does it matter?
An actual conflict of interest results when an individual who has a responsibility to protect the public's health will personally benefit if he or she makes a policy decision regarding a particular issue in favor or against an outside entity. An example of a direct conflict of interest is when a member of the NIH is receiving money from the companies producing the drugs the NIH officer is supposed to objectively regulate. A scientist working for the government who owns stock in such medical company also has a clear conflict of interest. If the company profits, he or she will profit, and if a drug the company produces is found to be dangerous, the company will experience a financial 'hit' and the scientist will experience a financial loss.
An apparent conflict of interest might be a scientist who has a relative or spouse working for a scientific or pharmaceutical research company. Although the scientist may not directly profit from a decision he or she makes, he or she may be unduly swayed by outside influences. Ethically, this may not be quite as questionable, but when matters of public health are concerned, and whenever the stakes of the decision-making are great, it is wise both to avoid apparent as well as actual conflicts of interests.
Should NIH scientists (compared to scientists in the private sector) be held to a higher degree of regulation of conflict of interest?
The NIH is a body of the federal government. The public must trust the government that the scientists have their own interests at heart, first and foremost. An individual who watches a drug commercial for Celebrex knows that it is being advertised by a self-interested commercial entity, but when the public hears a report provided by his or her government, composed by a supposedly disinterested body of scientists, he or she is more inclined to trust the evidence. Thus the NIH should be held to a higher standard.
