Research for profit

doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7550.1155-c

BMJ 2006;332:1155-1156 (13 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7550.1155-c

Letter

Research for profit

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—The stumbling block for clinical trials in boththe developing and developed world is the same, enrolment.¹It is difficult to enrol patients into trials, and we rely onconsent forms and the investigating doctor to protect patients.

Unknown to most patients, however, is the conflict of interestthat exists at the time of enrolment. When I first started ingeneral practice over 10 years ago I was asked to conduct pharmaceuticalcompany research. The motivation to conduct this research wasfinancial with the potential to earn £10 000 ( ${euro}$ 14 500;$18 500) on top of NHS income. This is still common, especiallyin the most deprived areas of the United Kingdom. I conductedthe research and enrolled 10 patients—I told patientsthat I was being paid but did not disclose the amount.