The Sun Never Sets On Transparency

The public continues to be made aware of the financial relationships between industry and healthcare practitioners (HCPs) and the role that these transactions may play in creating bias and influencing prescribing choices. Current best practice guidelines, such as Good Publication Practice 3 (GPP3) and the International Committee for Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) criteria for authorship support integrity and transparency in the publication of industry sponsored clinical trials’ data. A HCP industry specific transparency law, known as the US Federal Sunshine Act, was passed in 2010. Its main goal is to help reduce potential conflicts of interest that could harm clinical integrity and patient care and increase healthcare costs. Other countries have followed suit.

Unfortunately, the global transparency report ing requirements have little detail about non-monetary support for medical writing and editing, and whether or not it constitutes a transfer of value (TOV) to HCPs. Despite this lack of clarity, medical writers should be aware of the current landscape and should be able to discuss the various aspects of the global transparency requirements.