For instance, one university allows stock ownership but bars researchers from trading stock while research is going on. Another allows researchers to hold stock that they inherit. All also require disclosure of financial interests of spouses and dependent children. Besides Harvard, the schools reviewed were Baylor College of Medicine, Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Washington, Washington University, Yale University and the University of California at San Francisco and Los Angeles. It found that 15 of the 250 that responded had no policies on conflict of interest.
Federal regulations give universities responsibility for managing conflicts of interest.
McCrary found that 9 percent had guidelines that exceeded this federal standard. Last May, Harvard Medical School decided not to ease its tough conflict of interest rules. In an editorial, New England Journal of Medicine editor Jeffrey M. Drazen said medical schools should adopt uniform policies on stock ownership. The Associated Press. All rights reserved.