Australian Clinical Trial Authors’ Declarations of Industry Ties

Authors’ financial ties with pharmaceutical companies can affect the design, conduct and reporting of clinical trials. Although disclosure does not eliminate conflicts of interest (COI), it allows readers and reviewers to consider potential impacts. A systematic review of studies comparing authors’ self-reported COI disclosure with company payment reports found 23 studies (22 US and 1 Danish; n=5984 authors) with a pooled prevalence of non-disclosure of 66% (95% CI 48–78%). To our knowledge, the adequacy of authors’ disclosures has not been examined in other countries. Since October 2015, Medicines Australia, Australia’s pharmaceutical industry association, has required member companies to report all payments to individual clinicians for consultancies, speaking, advisory boards and educational events