Konflikte von Autoren mit Interessen

 

Demnächst wird ein bedeutender Artikel zur Beleuchtung von Innenräumen erscheinen. Die 18 Autoren haben sich durch intensive Forschung auf dem Gebiet der Chronobiologie verdient gemacht und gehören zur Weltspitze. Sie geben Empfehlungen zu einer gesunden Lichtexposition bei Tage, am Abend und in der Nacht. Den Inhalt werde ich bringen, sobald die Begutachtung abgeschlossen ist. Der Artikel ist vorab hier verfügbar. (Änderungen sind ziemlich ausgeschlossen, weil sich die Autoren auf eine gute Basis gestellt haben. Daher kann man den Artikel auch jetzt lesen.)

Üblicherweise geben Autoren von Artikeln standardmäßig eine Erklärung ab, ob es Interessenkonflikte geben kann, so etwa wenn sich der Auftraggeber einer Studie  mit Geschäften handelt, die die Studie betreffen. Meistens liest man dort den lapidaren Satz, dass das Projekt vom Ministerium X oder aus dem Forschungsprogramm Y finanziert worden ist, und ggf. Projektnummer. Also keine besondere Bedeutung. Nur einmal in der Geschichte der BRD hat so eine Erklärung eine große Rolle gespielt. Ich weiß nicht mehr, ob die Erklärung selbst oder deren Unterbleiben dem Bundesgesundheitsamt den Rest gaben. Dessen Präsident Karl Überla hatte vom Verband der Cigarettenindustrie über ein von ihm geleitetes Unternehmen Zuwendungen erhalten. Zudem war er beratend tätig für die Pharmaindustrie (hier). Das war allerdings nicht so schlimm wie bei einem Mediziner, "Papst der Arbeitsmedizin", der Berater des Arbeitsministers war in Sachen Asbest. Gleichzeitig stand er bei der Asbestindustrie in Lohn und Brot (hier). Der durfte seine Weisheiten auf seine Schüler vererben. Überla indes nicht. Das Bundesgesundheitsamt wurde kurz nach seiner Ablösung abgeschafft.

Ich habe eine Zeitschrift geleitet, die zu jedem Artikel nicht nur so eine Erklärung verlangte, sondern auch eine Angabe darüber, wer oder welche Institution nicht als Gutachter beauftragt werden darf. Die Autoren mussten ihre Angaben nicht begründen. Die wurden auch nicht veröffentlicht. Ich wollte nur vermeiden, dass mögliche Gegner einer Idee als heimlicher Bock den Gärtner spielten.

Bei dem besagten Artikel bin ich auf eine erstaunliche Liste gestoßen. Der Artikel umfasst selbst 9 Seiten. Die Erklärung zum "Conflict of Interest" ist 3 Seiten lang. Bei 4.500 Manuskripten, die ich habe begutachten lassen, betrug die Länge der Erklärungen eine oder zwei Zeilen. Ca 1/4 dieser Erklärung geht auf Rechnung eines einzigen Autors. Daher wäre im Falle von Licht das eigentlich nicht so sehr wichtige Detail vielleicht von Interesse. Man kann von der Lektüre lernen, wer sich so alles für Licht interessiert. Wie gesagt, die Erklärung ist erstaunlich lang.           _________________________________________

GCB was supported, in part, by DOE grant DE- EE0008207, NAS Award #HR 05-23 UNIT 905; NASA grant NNX15AC14G; the NSF ERC LESA Center; BIOS, Toshiba Materials Science, The Institute for Integrative Health; and the Philadelphia Section of the Illuminating Engineering Society. GCB reports having issued (USPTO 7,678,140 and 8,366,755) and pending (USPTO 16/252,300, 15/085,522 and 14/273,971) patents related to the photoreceptor system for melatonin regulation. That intellectual property has been licensed by Litebook Company Ltd. He has been a paid consultant by Lutron, Inc., and McCullough Hill LLC. In addition, he and his research program have received financial, material and travel support from a range of federal, industrial, legal and philanthropic organizations in the past and present.

CC has received consulting, honoraria, travel, accommodation and/or subsistence fees for invited keynote lectures, conference presentations or teaching from Toshiba Materials, Velux, Firalux, Lighting Europe, Electrosuisse, Novartis, Roche, Elite, Servier, and WIR Bank. CC is a member of the Daylight Academy.

CAC reports grants from FAA, NHLBI, NIA, NIOSH, NASA, and DOD; is/was a paid consultant to AARP, American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, Eisenhower Medical Center, Emory University, Ganesco, Inc., Inselspital Bern, Institute of Digital Media and Child Development, Klarman Family Foundation, M. Davis and Co, Physician’s Seal, Samsung, Sleep Research Society Foundation, State of Washington Board of Pilotage Commissioners, Tencent Holdings Ltd, Teva Pharma Australia, UC San Diego, University of Michigan, University of Washington, and Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc, in which CAC also holds an equity interest; received travel support from Annenberg Center for Health Sciences at Eisenhower, Aspen Brain Institut e, Bloomage International Investment Group, Inc., UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Bouley Botanical, Dr. Stanley Ho Medical Development Foundation, European Biological Rhythms Society, German National Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina), Illuminating Engineering Society, National Safety Council, National Sleep Foundation, Society for Research on Biological Rhythms, Sleep Research Society Foundation, Stanford Medical School Alumni Association, Tencent Holdings Ltd, University of Zurich, and Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen, National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, Office of Naval Research, Salk Institute for Biological Studies/Fondation Ipsen, The National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, The Wonderful Company, Department of Defense; receives research/education support through BWH from Cephalon, Mary Ann & Stanley Snider via Combined Jewish Philanthropies, Jazz Pharmaceuticals PLC Inc, Philips Respironics Inc, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd, Sanofi SA, Optum, ResMed, San Francisco Bar Pilots, Sanofi, Schneider, Simmons, Sysco, Philips, Vanda Pharmaceuticals; is/was an expert witness in legal cases, including those involving Advanced Power Technologies, Aegis Chemical Solutions LLC, Amtrak; Casper Sleep Inc, C&J Energy Services, Complete General Construction Co, Dallas Police Association, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Espinal Trucking/Eagle Transport Group LLC/Steel Warehouse Inc, FedEx, Greyhound Lines I nc/Motor Coach Industries/FirstGroup America, Pomerado Hospital/Palomar Health District (2017, 2018), PAR Electrical Contractors Inc, Product & Logistics Services LLC/Schlumberger Technology Corp/Gelco Fleet Trust, Puckett Emergency Medical Services LLC, South Carolina Central Railroad Company LLC, Union Pacific Railroad, United Parcel Service/UPS Ground Freight Inc, and Vanda Pharmaceuticals; serves as the incumbent of an endowed professorship provided to Harvard University by Cephalon, Inc.; and receives royalties from McGraw Hill, and Philips Respironics for the Actiwatch-2 and Actiwatch Spectrum devices. CAC also reports the following patents related to lighting and circadian rhythms (AU612182; US5146927; US5163426; US5167228; US5176133; US1327630; US5304212; US5503637; US5545192; US363440; US477282; US2739725; US2928636, CA2532657A1). CACs interests were reviewed and are managed by the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Mass General Brigham in accordance with their conflict of interest policies

SWL has received consulting fees from Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta Hawks, BHP Billiton, Delos Living LLC, EyeJust Inc., McCullough Hill Leary PS, Noble Insights, OpTerra Energy Services Inc., Pegasus Capital Advisors, Phillips Lytle LLP, Plan LED, Rec Room, Serrado Capit al, Slingshot Insights, Stantec and Team C Racing. He has current consulting contracts with Akili Interactive, Apex 2100 Ltd, Consumer Sleep Solutions, Headwaters Inc., Hintsa Performance

AG, KBR Wyle Services, Light Cognitive, Lighting Science Group Corporation/HealthE, Look Optic, Mental Workout/Timeshifter, Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP, Six Senses, and View Inc. SWL has received unrestricted equipment gifts from Bionetics Corporation and F.LUX Software LLC; a fellowship gift from Stockgrand Ltd; has equity in iSLEEP, Pty; royalties from Oxford University Press; honoraria plus travel, accommodation and/or meals for invited seminars, conference presentations or teaching from Estée Lauder, Ineos, Informa Exhibitions, MIT, Roxbury Latin School, and Teague; travel, accommodation and/or meals only (no honoraria) for invited seminars, conference presentations, teaching or editorial duties from DIN, Emory University, Lightfair, SLTBR, Solemma and Wiley. SWL has an ongoing investigator-initiated grant from F. Lux Software LLC and a Clinical Research Support Agreement from Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. SWL holds a process patent for ‘Systems and methods for determining and/or controlling sleep quality’, which is assigned to the Brigham and Women’s Hospital per Hospital policy, and ‘Method and system for generating and providing notifications for a circadian shift protocol’ held by Mental Workout Inc. SWL has served as a paid expert in legal proceedings related to light, health and work patterns. SWL was the Program Leader for ‘Safety and Productivity Improvements’ in the CRC for Alertness, Safety and Productivity from 2015-2019, through a part-time Adjunct Professor appointment at Monash University, Australia. SWL’s interests are reviewed and managed by Brigham and Women's Hospital and Partners HealthCare in accordance with their conflict of interest policies.

RJL and TMB have received research funding from Signify (formerly Philips Lighting).

RJL, LP, LJMS and MS have served as members of the CIE Joint Technical Committee 9 on the definition of CIE S 026:2018. These were unpaid roles.

JPH, MM and SNP report no conflicting interests.

JOH, In addition to paid employment with Public Health England, is Vice-President Standards of the CIE, a member of the Scientific Expert Group of the International Commission on Non- Ionizing Radiation Protection and a number of their Project Groups, Co-Convenor of an ISO committee on Integrative Lighting, a member of two committees of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, Convenor of an IEC committee and a member of a Core Group for the World Health Organization, all as unpaid roles.

LP served as the CIE reporter to CIE TN 003:2015 on the first Manchester Workshop in 2013, is currently serving as Director and as Secretary of the CIE Division “Photobiology and Photochemistry”, as the CIE reporter on the CIE S 026 Toolbox (doi.org/10.25039/S026.2018.TB), as a member of CIE Joint Technical Committee 14 (working with ISO Joint Working Group 4) on Integrative Lighting, and as the CIE reporter on the second Manchester Workshop 2019 (attended by all the authors), all as unpaid roles

LJMS’s full time position at Eindhoven University has been partially funded by Signify, he is also active in various unpaid roles within the International Commission on Illumination (CIE).

DJS is a co-inventor on issued patents (EP1614441A1 and WO2015052207A1).

CV is an unpaid member of the Circadian Light Therapy (Inc.) and the Chronsulting Scientific Advisory Boards. In addition, CV’s research and scholarship is funded by the University of Colorado Boulder, the Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, the National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Energy.

PCZ reports funding from National Institutes of Health, Eisai, Philips, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Technogel, Harmony Biosciences, Apnimed, X – a Division of Alphabet, Inc., Merck and Sanofi. In addition, PCZ has patent applications pending (62/038700; 15/517458).

KPW reports during the conduct of the 2nd International Workshop and preparation of this manuscript being a board member of the Sleep Research Society; chair of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine Clinical Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Adults with Shift Work Disorder and Jet Lag Disorder Workgroup; receiving research support from the NIH, the Office of Naval Research, the PAC-12 conference, and consulting for Circadian Therapeutics, LTD., Circadian Biotherapies, Inc. Philips Respironics, U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command-Walter Reed Army Institute of Research outside the submitted work.

One Comment

  1. Antworten

    […] 25 Jahre nach diesem Bericht verlangten führende Chronobiologen just eine Minimaldosis am Tage (hier). 1:0 für die […]

Schreibe einen Kommentar

Deine E-Mail-Adresse wird nicht veröffentlicht. Erforderliche Felder sind mit * markiert