Conflicts of Interest: Real, Important, and Undeniable

In this op-ed for Beyond Chron titled “Conflicts of Interest: Real, Important, and Undeniable,” Dietitians for Professional Integrity co-founder and strategic director Andy Bellatti, MS, RD touches on issues of conflicts of interest in research.

Highlights:

• “One issue coming to the forefront is industry-funded research and conflicts of interest. It is such a concern, in fact, that World Health Organization Director General Dr. Margaret Chan mentioned it in her opening address at the 8th Global Conference on Health Promotion in 2013:
  • “It is not just Big Tobacco anymore. Public health must also contend with Big Food, Big Soda, and Big Alcohol. All of these industries fear regulation, and protect themselves by using the same tactics. Research has documented these tactics well. They include front groups, lobbies, promises of self-regulation, lawsuits, and industry-funded research that confuses the evidence and keeps the public in doubt.”

• “In 2013, a systematic review published in the Public Libraries of Science analyzed studies on sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption and weight gain. The results were eye-opening:
  • “Among the reviews that reported having no conflict of interest, 83.3% of the conclusions were that SSB consumption could be a potential risk factor for weight gain. By contrast, the same percentage of reviews in which a potential financial conflict of interest was disclosed concluded that the scientific evidence was insufficient to support a positive association between SSB consumption and weight gain, or reported contradictory results.”

• “To be clear: listing a potential conflict of interest is not admittance of collusion; it is simply valuable information readers of a study should know. No one is suggesting industry not play a role in research. As the authors of the review mentioned above write:
  • “[These results] do not imply that industry sponsorship of nutrition research should be avoided entirely. Rather, as in other research areas, clear guidelines and principles (for example, sponsors should sign contracts that state that they will not be involved in the interpretation of results) need to be established to avoid dangerous conflicts of interest.”

• “This scrutiny goes beyond looking at the “who” behind study funding to also consider the “what.” In the words of epidemiologist David Michael, Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, “It’s not the answers that are biased, it’s the questions.”

• “At its core, science is objective. It is the questions that are asked during the scientific process, and the way those findings are reported and framed, that can affect our understanding. In order for nutrition science to maintain its integrity, it is important to remain mindful of conflicts of interest.”