Conflict of Interest = A Danger to society?

Conflict of Interest=A Danger to society?

Content • Gelsinger Case • Code of Conduct and the non-existing fight vs. greed • Government Officials and the industry

Cutting edge medical treatments -Blessing or curse? • Research in general is vital to our society • Medical research can save lives • Medical research can destroy lives

Gene Therapy & Gelsinger • Jesse Gelsinger (18) had a rare metabolic disease • Joined drug trial University of Pennsylvania, hoping to overcome disease • Gelsinger died four years later, as result from the treatment • Investigation shows: • He was not a suitable test subject • Dangerous side effects were not disclosed • The University, as well as the head researcher had financial stakes in the trial

Code of Conduct vs. Greed • Why was Gelsinger not informed about severe consequences of taking the drug, observed in previous test subjects? • Why was he even included, even though he had too high ammonia? • What made the researchers so careless? • Money or ambition?

Repercussions • Jesse Gelsinger died • Ongoing investigations • Impact on University’s reputation • Fundamental setback to Gene Therapy • Could indivual ambition really have caused this?

Disadvantages of unrestricted research funding • The freedom to use or recommend better products • The freedom to collaborate with companies that are more beneficial to her research • Morality – One’s perspective changes when offered a big stack of money

National Institute of Health (US) • NIH scientists also working for private companies • “Well paid work” • Ban on many kinds of financial transactions between NIH scientists and the medical industry in 2005 • Followed by complaints by scientists and loosening of the rules • Is that a morally acceptable reaction? • Is there a difference between “well paid work” and a “bribe”?

Development in Universities • Especially universities in America and the west established guidelines to cope with relationships between researchers and the industry • Those guidelines were built on bad experience, i.e. they learned from their mistakes and aim to prevent them in the future • Not so much in Taiwan

衛生局(台灣) • Pushing universities to cooperate with the industry • Wish for a more prosper country • Short-sighted • Too many bonds between government & Universities and the industry already • Probably won’t change before a major incident occurs

Who is to blame? • The opportunity to obtain big chunks of money makes humans greedy • To blame are most of us humans for not having moved on to post-materialism • We cannot enforce it to happen so we have to fix it in other ways • Relativity of morality and ethics makes it hard to setup generally accepted rules and laws

How far does it go? • Moore v. Regents of the University of California • Mr. Moore’s leukemia was treated by university • Mr. Moore’s cells –without his knowledge- were used for research that eventually was developed into a commercialized cancer treatment • Mr. Moore “had no right to any share of the profits realized from the commercialization of anything developed from his discarded body parts”

Vicious Cycle • In addition to the human greed and selfishness, the main reason is lack of regulations to cope with Conflicts ofInterest • Lack of regulation is often caused by “close collaborations” between the ones in charge and the industry (often in the indirect form of lobbyists) • Which means that the reason for lack of regulations is a Conflict of Interest • A vicious cycle.

Conflict of Interest = A Danger to society?