By: David R. Richardson, MD
Competing interests: Anything to declare?
Issue: BCMJ,
vol. 52, No. 3, April 2010,
Page 119 Letters
In the January/February issue we printed a letter and response regarding BCMJ Editorial Board members and competing interests.[1] The writers felt that editorialists (who are all BCMJ Editorial Board members) ought to state their competing interests, and we replied in the same issue that BCMJ policy is to seek and publish competing interest statements from authors of clinical/scientific/review articles only.
We then received a follow-up letter arguing in favor of disclosure statements for, presumably, everything we print. They cite a new disclosure policy by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), whose Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts the BCMJ endorses. Neither the editorial introducing the new form[2] nor the form itself[3] suggest disclosure for all items printed in journals, referring solely to “articles.”
While we disagree that all printed items ought to carry a disclosure statement, we do agree with the spirit of openness that these correspondents are seeking, and also that on occasion Editorial Board members may have competing interests.
On the rare occasion that a conflict of this nature arises in the course of a meeting, it has always been the Board’s practice that the member excuses himself or herself from the meeting while the decision is being made. Additionally, each Board member will provide a blanket disclosure statement, along with some personal information, which will be permanently posted at www.bcmj.org.
As stated on the contents page of every issue, “Statements and opinions expressed in the BCMJ reflect the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of the BCMA.” As of this issue you will see an addendum to the end of that statement, as follows: “or the institutions they may be associated with.”
—David R. Richardson, MD, Editor
References
1. Brar R, Brcic V, Etches N, et al. Conflict of interest. BCMJ 2010;52:9-10.
2. Drazen JM, Van Der Weyden MB, Sahni P, et al. Uniform format for disclosure of competing interests in ICMJE journals. JAMA 2010;303:75-76.
3. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. ICMJE Uniform Disclosure Form for Potential Conflicts of Interest. www.icmje.org/coi_disclosure.pdf (accessed 11 March 2010).