» The Fight Over Transparency: Round Two

" ... Top-tier biomedical journals now require explicit disclosure of potential conflicts of interest, as well as any involvement of outside influences in the design, conduct, or writing of scientific studies. Following a series of scandals involving physicians hiding industry money, the Physician Payment Sunshine Act was passed and is now revealing pharmaceutical-industry cash flowing to physicians, academic medical centers and other key players in medicine.[iv] While not true across all areas of the life sciences, greater transparency toward industry financial relationships, information regarding research methods and outcomes are becoming increasingly realized through the use of clinical trials registries and data repositories ... Despite the merits of increased transparency, criticism continues. Last June, theNew England Journal of Medicine published a series of articles that questioned whether conflict-of-interest policing had gone too far.[vi] The salvo reverberated because NEJM had been a leader of the transparency movement, a point made by several former editors in a scathing response.[vii]  A less well-covered volte-face comes from the Union of Concerned Scientists. Like many other advocacy organizations, UCS has long expressed dismay at the distortion of science.[viii],[ix] Yet within the past year, UCS has begun a campaign to blunt the tools with which the public can investigate claims of scientific malfeasance.  Earlier this year, the organization released a report in which it decried using open-access requests to 'bully' scientists and to 'disrupt or delay their work.'[x]The report cited several cases where scientists had arguably been harassed in the name of transparency ..."