BIAS DUE TO CONFLICTS OF INTEREST:
A distortion of estimates, interpretations, or conclusions due to a compromise of a person’s objectivity when that person has a vested interest1. Bias could occur when an individual stands to benefit personally (e.g. financially) or professionally (e.g. greater prestige, promotion) from some aspect of a study, report, or other professional activity1.
Conflicts of Interest are ubiquitous in medical science, and often erroneous interpreted as a matters of opinion, and thus often not disclosed2,3. For example, a physician may receive a honorarium, gift, salary, stock, equipment, or other commodity (e.g. free medication for study) from a pharmaceutical company but believe that they were unbiased when conducting their medical research study. Whether they believe their relationship caused a bias is irrelevant, as conflicts of interest are matters of fact not opinion; thus the overwhelming consensus is that conflicts should be disclosed1.
In reality, Bias Due to Conflicts of Interest are rarely investigated, or fully mitigated in modern day academic institutions2. Arguably this may be due to the financial benefit to institutions that arise from relationships with entities that pose Conflicts of Interest; as well as the naivety of the public, and lack of direct (financial or professional) consequences to individuals or their employers, when this bias is not mitigated. Also see: Industry Bias, Investigator Bias, and Halo Bias.
References:
1. Porta M, ed. A Dictionary of Epidemiology. Sixth ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press 2014. (Link to Reference)
2. Tabatabavakili S, Khan R, Scaffidi MA, Gimpaya N, Lightfoot D, Grover SC. Financial Conflicts of Interest in Clinical Practice Guidelines: A Systematic Review. Mayo Clin Proc Innov Qual Outcomes. 2021;5(2):466-75. (Link to Reference)
3. Lissoni F, Montobbio F. Guest authors or ghost inventors? Inventorship and authorship attribution in academic science. (Link to Reference)