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Bridget M. Kuehn

JAMA. 2007;297:1764.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed a new, tougher approach to conflicts of interest among advisors to the agency in March.

The FDA advisory committees, made up of experts on a particular topic, provide recommendations on actions the agency should take on drugs, medical devices, and other FDA-regulated products. The agency typically follows the advice of these panels. Previously, the agency had been criticized for allowing some members of the advisory panels to vote on recommendations that would benefit them financially, and for not having a consistent process for evaluating such conflicts.

The new rules would make the process more consistent and would tighten the restrictions on who could participate in advisory panels (http://www.fda.gov/oc/advisory/waiver/coiguidedft.html). Persons who have conflicting financial interests in excess of $50 000 (after applying certain exemptions) would not be allowed to participate; those with a conflicting financial interest of less than $50 000 . . . [Full Text of this Article]