Devicemakers Embrace Tougher Academic Conflict-of-Interest Policies

As more medical schools implement policies to clamp down on industry gifts and compensation, devicemakers question how they will work with the changes.

Devicemakers see such rules as unavoidable because of the national push for transparency, and they say implementing them may be difficult due to the nature of device development.

“Conflicts of interest are inevitable in device development because of the extraordinarily tight collaboration required to create effective medical devices,” Paul LaViolette, Boston Scientific’s senior advisor, said. Since companies cannot eliminate conflict, they must manage it, he added.

SOURCE: FDA NEWS