Lead author of Cochrane HPV review did not breach conflicts policy, find arbiters

Cochrane has determined that the lead author of its review on human papillomavirus vaccine, Marc Arbyn, did not breach its rules on commercial sponsorship by not declaring his involvement in two organisations funded in whole or part by industry.

The complaints about alleged conflicts of interest undisclosed by Arbyn, of the Belgian Cancer Centre in Brussels, were made by several organisations and individuals after the review was published in May 2018.1 The first complaint seems to have come from the Japanese organisation Yakugai, which published a critique of the review on 7 June.2

Yakugai has campaigned against use of the vaccine, holding meetings at which people claiming to have been injured by the vaccine …