Ethical Challenges to the Integrity of Physicans: Financial Conflicts of Interest in Clinical Research

Financial conflicts of interest arise when physicians' judgment and decision making become compromised by financial gains or interests, and thus create risk of undo harm to research participants, to the integrity of research projects, and, ultimately, to society at large. Such conflicts also violate the moral maxims of medicine, and thus damage the integrity of physicians and the medical profession. I submit that key remedies for this problem are the integrity (self-respect) of physicians and the respectful engagement of research participants (whether patients or nonpatient volunteers) as partners in research projects. Accordingly, I consider physicians the primary moral agents, research participants the secondary moral agents, and society the tertiary moral agent with responsibilities for protection against whatever undue harm in clinical research. The latter needs to address the powerful cultural, commercial, political, and social factors that contribute to physicians' financial conflicts of interest.     

Disclosing Conflicts of Interest to Research Subjects: An Ethical and Legal Analysis

In this article, I examine the ethical and legal issues related to disclosure of conflicts of interest to research subjects, and discuss some empirical studies related to the topic. I argue that researchers have an ethical obligation to disclose conflicts of interest to research subjects, provided that they take steps to help subjects understand information about conflicts of interest and how to interpret it. Researchers also may have a legal duty to disclose conflicts of interests to subjects, depending on the facts of the case and the court's interpretation of the law. To reinforce and clarify the legal obligation to disclose conflicts of interest, the federal regulations should be amended to include disclosure of conflicts of interest as one of the informed consent requirements. Institutional review boards play a key role in helping researchers to disclose conflicts of interests to subjects in an appropriate manner. Institutional review boards should approve the disclosure language in informed consent documents, and they should require researchers to disclose financial interests to research subjects, if they have any, as a condition of approval.     

Conflicts of Interest in Academic Research: Policies,Processes, and Attitudes

Few studies have examined academic researchers' understandings of or attitudes toward conflict of interest policies even though these understandings and attitudes represent a crucial component of both compliance and educational efforts. This study reports the results of a large-scale, cross-sectional survey of research faculty at the nine campuses of the University of California regarding their understandings of and attitudes toward campus conflict of interest policies. We gathered information on their general assessments of investigators with financial ties to industry sponsors and reactions to the process of implementing conflict of interest policies at their respective campuses. We surveyed 1,971 faculty members from the nine-campus University of California system and had 779 responses (39% response rate). The sampled faculty were in the ten departments with the most number of financial disclosures at each campus. We utilized the WebSurveyor software to create a secure, online, 21-item survey. Our study reveals faculty with complex, sometimes contradictory, feelings about academic-industry relationships and highlights perceived gaps in policy and process. Most respondents were concerned about unlimited financial relationships, but a sizable number also viewed campus policies as irrelevant. Some expressed considerable anger over the process of policy implementation, rejecting the policies on the basis of professional and individual self-determination and moral integrity. Our study suggests the need for renewed efforts to encourage awareness of the relevance of conflict of interest policies for all faculty, new efforts to increase understanding of the situational nature of conflicts of interest, and a reexamination of the processes of policy implementation at the campus level.     

高职院校深入产业集聚区举办产业学院的现象研究

随着区域经济与高等院校更为紧密地互动发展,在长三角、珠三角地区出现了很多深入产业集聚区举办产业学院的现象。该文分析了产业集聚区的特征与技术技能型人才需求,深入剖析了高职院校深入产业集聚区举办产业学院的动力机制。在此基础上,从四个视角研究了高职院校深入产业集聚区举办产业学院的实践路径,并从地方政府和高职院校两个维度提出了推进共建产业学院的政策建议。     

陕南绿色产业一业率先突破的路径选择

关中依托高新技术和制造业率先崛起,陕北以能源基地成为全新的板块,陕南发展绿色产业因多业齐头并举而发展缓慢,绿色经济种植业一业率先突破,然后用龙头产业带动其他绿色产业发展是陕南绿色产业发展的最捷路径。     

农民工教育权利机制建构

调查发现,农民工融入城市步履维艰,农民工与城市居民之间在心理上有道难以跨越的鸿沟,农民工及其子女的教育已经成为社会问题。事实表明,农民工融入城市的最大风险就是其自身素质。农民工的权利涉及到方方面面,但更为重要的是教育权利。因为教育是提高一个人的素质乃至决定一个人发展的重要因素,对于城市化进程中的农民工尤为如此。     

Ten steps to developing a national agenda to address financial conflicts of interest in industry sponsored clinical research

Financial liaisons between clinical researchers, research institutions, and industrial sponsors have gained momentum in recent years. In the process, it has been argued by many that trust in the research infrastructure is being eroded by the financial conflicts of interest that emerge from these arrangements. Yet, the financial resources of industry are needed to continue technology transfer from the bench to the bedside. Policy makers and government regulators are currently struggling to determine how to best manage financial conflicts of interest that emerge from these liaisons. Various organizations and government entities have proposed different strategies. This paper explores the limitations of existing measures and recommends that a unified national agenda is needed. We propose 10 steps to develop an agenda to address financial conflicts of interest in industry-sponsored clinical research.     

北京市生产性服务业发展与高端制造业增长

基于服务业推动制造业的增长理论,运用2002-2012年北京市投入产出表增加值数据和完全消耗数据的实证分析表明,北京市生产性服务业投入能提升制造业增加值,且高端制造业产出效率高于传统制造业.但以科学研究、 技术服务为代表的高端生产性服务业对高端制造业增加值增长的贡献效率远低于劳动投入,生产性服务业对制造业增加值的提升效应有待进一步增强.因此,北京市应加大科技创新和研发投入,提供金融科技和监管科技,推动生产性服务业供给侧结构性改革,形成生产性服务业与高端制造业融合发展的格局.     

优化市场结构提升竞争力的探讨--黑龙江零售业发展现状与趋势

参照SCP理论,零售企业应做大做强,发挥规模效益,加强竞争优势。目前,我省零售业处于企业规模小、无序竞争阶段。面对外资挑战,必须通过兼并、收购、合并等方式,改变市场结构,进而最终提高市场绩效。     

From Hollis to the Orange Book: Developing a Holistic Model of Social Work Assessment in the 1990s

Correspondence to Margaret Lloyd, School of Social Work, University of Manchester, Dover Street, Manchester M13 9PL. Summary Amidst questioning of its essential identity, social work iscurrently developing new procedures and training programmesin assessment, traditionally one of its core activities. Thedemand for this redevelopment has been created by the changingprofessional climate in both probation and social work practice,in particular the response to legislative changes such as theNational Health Service and Community Care Act 1990. This paperexamines the established model of social work assessment inhistorical context and identifies its shortcomings for practicein the 1990s. It argues that despite the apparently diverserange of assessment tasks now undertaken by social workers andprobation officers, there remains an identifiable, common setof skills. Moreover, unless social work anchors these assessmentskills in a conceptual framework, retaining a sense of its ownhistory, the essential character of social work assessment willbe lost amidst mechanistic procedures and competing philosophies.This paper suggests a typology for making sense of the rangeof assessment tasks in current practice, arguing that this mustbe rooted in a holistic theoretical and philosophical model.The term ‘social work’ is used in its generic senseto include probation practice.     

日本的生物技术产业与竞争政策——关于Research Tool发明专利中的授权问题

日本知识财产政策已进入一个新阶段。本文详细研究与ResearchTool发明专利相关的日本药品产业在知识财产法上的课题、药品产业中的竞争政策问题，最后提出结论：假设在日本、欧洲、美国，除了一部分能够实施专利的研究者以外，都因为Research Tool专利的存在而给药品研究带来极大的不良影响的话，那么就有必要向国际社会提出有关消除该弊端的建议，例如，重新讨论授予Research Tool专利权的问题或通过裁定实施权等来限制专利的排他权等。从构建弊端少且均衡的知识产权的观点出发，需要通过不同立场的人进行不断的讨论才能够保证知识产权制度的持续发展。     

Preventive and punitive regulation in seventeenth-century social policy: Conflicts of interest and the failure to make 'stealing and transporting Children,and other Persons' a felony, 1645-73

The expansion of settlement in the English colonies in America after 1607 led to a demand for labour which was met by white indentured servitude before the growth of black chattel slavery. However, from its inception the trade in indentured servants was characterized by the abuse of servants by unscrupulous recruiters and of merchants by criminals who made false accusations against them. Two different policy solutions were introduced to address this abuse and both punitive and preventive measures were seen as appropriate methods of regulation. However, making a successful social policy was difficult despite good intention. There was no consensus about an economic activity which raised complicated economic, social and political issues and conflicts of interest; the measures were not introduced as a co-ordinated policy and were in the hands of different agencies; punitive proposals to increase the penalties for child stealing put falsely accused merchants at risk; and the extension of preventive servant registration in private hands for profit became politically unacceptable if it was to be compulsory. As a consequence, the 1671 bill 'to prevent stealing and transporting children, and other persons', despite being passed by both Houses of Parliament, was never enacted and policy to make the offence of stealing a person as serious an offence as stealing a horse was not fulfilled for a further 143 years.     

中国商会史研究如何取得新突破

中国商会史作为一个新的研究领域,在近20余年中获得了迅速发展,并相应带动了经济史、社会史、城市史的发展.中国商会史研究的新突破,需要在理论和方法上继续创新,注重解决理论阐释与实际论述相脱节的情况,认真总结近20年来商会史研究中理论运用的经验和教训,构建中国式的商会史研究理论体系.同时还要重视研究时段的延长与视野的拓宽,加强对不同历史时期和不同地区的商会,特别是县镇基层商会的实证性深入研究,对与商会直接相关的一些商人社团也应进行深入探讨.进一步挖掘商会以及与商会直接相关的其他商人团体的资料,并加以整理出版,是推动商会史研究取得新突破另一个重要因素,因而也应予以高度重视.