1. 1. Ethical and Conflict of Interest issues in Bioelectromagnetics Dariusz Leszczynski University of Helsinki, Finland Dariusz Leszczynski; BioEM2014, Cape Town, South Africa
2. 2. My own CoI disclosure Adjunct Professor at the University of Helsinki Chief Editor of Radiation and Health; a specialty of the Frontiers in Public Health Member of the Advisory Board of Cellraid Ltd; develops cellphone applications for evaluation of wireless exposures Travel grant from Pandora Foundation, Germany, to attend BioEM2014 Dariusz Leszczynski; BioEM2014, Cape Town, South Africa
3. 3. The Institute of Medicine of The US National Academies defines Conflict of Interest (CoI) as: a set of circumstances that creates a risk that professional judgment or actions regarding a primary interest will be unduly influenced by a secondary interest. Quotes selected/modified from Conflict of Interest in Medical Research, Education, and Practice Institute of Medicine of the National Academies 2009 Dariusz Leszczynski; BioEM2014, Cape Town, South Africa
4. 4. From the blog by Nathan A. Schachtman, lawyer representing industry Co nflict o f inte re st in scie nce is a ve ry im po rtant issue , and it is a ve ry big pro ble m , be cause if unco ntro lle d, it can le ad to biase d, m isle ading and e ve n false o pinio ns abo ut scie ntific e vide nce . Dariusz Le sz cz ynski, Co nflicting state m e nts by the two e xpe rts o f the Ro yalSo cie ty o f Canada , (No v. 1 , 20 1 3) This statement and the remainder of the blog post is an example of the current obsession and delusion over conflicts of interest (COIs). COIs do not lead to false opinions (assuming an opinion can be false); fraud, misrepresentation, errors in data collection and analyses, fallacies, and inferential mistakes are what lead to misleading and false statements in science. COIs may perhaps trigger greater scrutiny for error, but there is Dariusz Leszczynski; BioEM2014, Cape Town, South Africa
5. 5. Central goal of conflict of interest policies is to protect the integrity of professional judgement and to preserve public trust rather than to remeditate bias or mistrust after it occurs Quote modified from Conflict of Interest in Medical Research, Education, and Practice Institute of Medicine of the National Academies 2009 Dariusz Leszczynski; BioEM2014, Cape Town, South Africa
6. 6. Not every conflict of interest is equal Not every conflict of interest is of significance for every circumstance The disclosure of individual and institutional financial relationships is a critical but limited first step in the process of identifying and responding to conflict of interest Person with conflict of interest will be making decisions How reliable will be decisions made by person with conflict of interest How reliable the past decisions are of persons who left committee for work with industry Dariusz Leszczynski; BioEM2014, Cape Town, South Africa
7. 7. Criteria for evaluating conflict of interest policies Proportionality Is the policy most efficiently directed at the most important conflicts? Transparency Is the policy comprehensible and accessible to the individuals and institutions that may be affected by the policy? Accountability Does the policy indicate who is responsible for enforcing and revising it? Fairness Does the policy apply equally to all relevant groups within an institution and in different institutions from Conflict of Interest in Medical Research, Education, and Practice Institute of Medicine of the National Academies 2009 Dariusz Leszczynski; BioEM2014, Cape Town, South Africa
8. 8. Some examples of the conflict of interest in bioelectromagnetics Sponsored by industry Consulting agreement Sitting on advisory board to industry Employed by industry funded research institution Dariusz Leszczynski; BioEM2014, Cape Town, South Africa
9. 9. Bioelectromagnetics is a narrow research area. Unavoidably, all science is done, evaluated and presented, to the general public and decision-makers, by a small group of influential players. Large research consortia, appointed committees and self- appointed committees consist of the same influential players. The same applies to the narrow field of influential peer- reviewers of new research projects and of articles published in peer-reviewed journals. As if by default, all of the influential players claim in their disclosures to either have no CoI or, if they have it, they claim to be unaffected in their scientific decisions by CoI. Dariusz Leszczynski; BioEM2014, Cape Town, South Africa
10. 10. David Heath of the Center for Public Integrity, Washington, DC, wrote in December 2013: Case of Patricia Buffler, Dean of the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley Bufflers own research found strong evidence suggesting that preschoolers should stay away from wet paint. Yet, in the past three years, Buffler was paid more than $360,000 to work as an expert witness on behalf of companies that used to sell lead-based paint. Dariusz Leszczynski; BioEM2014, Cape Town, South Africa
11. 11. Commonly, the disclosures of CoI, even in very influential committees, are not standardized and seemingly not checked for their accuracy. Therefore, relying entirely on the willingness of the discloser to make full disclosure. There is no accountability for any false, erroneous or incomplete disclosures. Dariusz Leszczynski; BioEM2014, Cape Town, South Africa
12. 12. ICNIRP members are asked to declare any personal interests in relation to the activities of ICNIRP. Members' declaration of personal interests are available on ICNIRPs website. Accuracy checks missing avoidance of straight answers or? Do yo u have re se arch suppo rt fro m industry? Ihave no pe rso nalsuppo rt fro m the industry. Dariusz Leszczynski; BioEM2014, Cape Town, South Africa
13. 13. Examples of problems in bioelectromagnetics committees Committee Selection Disclosures Accountabilit y Funding ICNIRP private club yes, but... no ? SCENIHR ? yes, but... yes EU BioInitiative private club ? no by members themselves Dariusz Leszczynski; BioEM2014, Cape Town, South Africa Funding column was added after the talk, at the request of Carl Blackman, member of BioInitiative
14. 14. Examples of the scientific problems in bioelectromagnetics committees Selectiveness in collecting/admissing evidence All evidence listed but not considered in practice Selection of predominantly supportive evidence Single scientist making judgement/writing opinion paper BioInitiative SCENIHR Committees do not want talk to each other Dariusz Leszczynski; BioEM2014, Cape Town, South Africa
15. 15. Firewalls between the industry funding research and the scientists executing this research. Current system of firewalls does not work: the industry knows whom they are funding the scientists know who is funding them firewall keeper is profiting from providing firewall and administrating the industrys money for the scientists This situation resembles the proverbial public secret everyone knows but no one publicly admits to know Dariusz Leszczynski; BioEM2014, Cape Town, South Africa
16. 16. Even in a situation when disclosure of the potential CoI is done in full, what impact the disclosed CoI has on the decisions made by the discloser? Even after the full disclosure of the potential CoI, person having the potential CoI will be making decisions. Are these decisions influenced or not influenced by the CoI, also when it was disclosed? Dariusz Leszczynski; BioEM2014, Cape Town, South Africa
17. 17. As the society at large and as the scientific society, should we be solely dependent on the ethics and consciousness of the persons having potential CoI or should we intervene and exclude persons with potential, and significant CoI, from the advisory or decision-making role? Are there irreplaceable experts? Dariusz Leszczynski; BioEM2014, Cape Town, South Africa
18. 18. In dealings with experts, as a society and as scientists, should we exercise trust or limited trust, and make sure that the skeletons do not remain hidden? Dariusz Leszczynski; BioEM2014, Cape Town, South Africa
19. 19. Lots of mistrust has accumulated over the years. Harmonization attempts do not work. Safety policies are being de-harmonized through political influencers. Current CoI and firewalls policies do not work. How to reverse the mis-trust situation to trusted one? Dariusz Leszczynski; BioEM2014, Cape Town, South Africa