[Conflicts of interest: should we lower our guard?]

Conflicts of interest affect the scientific communication and information: their effects on the physician's prescribing behavior have been frequently studied and clearly documented. Recently, the New England Journal of Medicine published a series of papers questioning the radical positions on this topic, asking to reconsider the most intransigent approach, so that it may be possible a productive collaboration between academic medicine and pharmaceutical industry, in the interest of the patient. The papers published in the New England Journal of Medicine confirm the difficulties experienced by the biomedical journals: the support of the industry is essential and most of the authors and referees has ties with pharmaceutical or biotech companies. The debate among the various stakeholders is vital but should be open and transparent, with the aim to restore credibility to all the parties concerned: academic medicine, pharmaceutical industry and scientific publishers.