[Clinical researchers and the pharmaceutical industry]

The diminished financial support by the government of clinical investigation has led to clinical units that depend for their infrastructure largely on contract research for the pharmaceutical industry. This poses a threat to the independence of scientific research, to the freedom to publish scientific results and to the continuity of the research. Moreover, it is not easy for a researcher to retain a position of integrity and independence in the face of a jungle of conflicting interests and not to let personal interests prevail. The difficult relation between the physician and the pharmaceutical industry is the subject of a forthcoming short series of articles.