Clinical researchers and the pharmaceutical industry

The diminished financial support by the government of clinical investigation has led to clinical units that depend for their infrastructure largely on contract research for the pharmaceutical industry. This poses a threat to the independence of scientific research, to the freedom to publish scientific results and to the continuity of the research. Moreover, it is not easy for a researcher to retain a position of integrity and independence in the face of a jungle of conflicting interests and not to let personal interests prevail. The difficult relation between the physician and the pharmaceutical industry is the subject of a forthcoming short series of articles.