Letters to the Editor

Editor's Note: Importance of Revealing Any Author Conflicts of Interest

Am Fam Physician. 2007 Feb 15;75(4):472.

The November 1, 2006, issue of American Family Physician contained a letter titled “Medication Options for the Treatment of CAP.”1 Each of the authors of this letter was instructed at the time of submission and asked again at the time of acceptance to disclose any potential conflicts of interest, including financial relationships with the manufacturers of the medications that they discussed. At the time of publication, none of the authors had disclosed any potential conflicts of interest. When numerous financial relationships were later discovered to exist, the authors responded that they had not realized that it was necessary to disclose these relationships. The editors of American Family Physician feel that it is important for our readers to be aware that the following relationships existed at the time of the letter's1 publication:

Lionel A. Mandell, M.D., has received research funding from Bayer Corp., Chiron Corp., Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical Corp., Oscient Pharmaceuticals, and Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; has served as a paid consultant to Bayer, Cempra Pharmaceuticals, Novexel, Oscient, Ortho-McNeil, Pfizer, Sanofi-Aventis, Targanta Therapeutics, and Wyeth Laboratories; and is on the speaker's bureaus for Bayer, Ortho-McNeil, Oscient, Pfizer, and Sanofi-Aventis.

Thomas M. File, Jr., M.D., has received research funding from Binax, Ortho-McNeil, Oscient, Pfizer, and Sanofi-Aventis; has served as a paid consultant to Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck & Co., Ortho-McNeil, Oscient, Pfizer, Sanofi-Aventis, Schering-Plough Pharmaceuticals, and Wyeth; and is on the speaker's bureaus for Abbott, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Ortho-McNeil, Oscient, Pfizer, Sanofi-Aventis, Schering Plough, and Wyeth.

Paul B. Iannini, M.D., has served as a paid consultant, received honoraria from, and is on the speaker's bureaus for Oscient, Sanofi-Aventis, and Schering-Plough.

Send letters to Kenneth W. Lin, MD, Associate Deputy Editor for AFP Online, e-mail: afplet@aafp.org, or 11400 Tomahawk Creek Pkwy., Leawood, KS 66211-2680.

Please include your complete address, e-mail address, telephone number, and fax number. Letters should be fewer than 500 words and limited to six references, one table or figure, and three authors.

Letters submitted for publication in AFP must not be submitted to any other publication. Possible conflicts of interest must be disclosed at time of submission. Submission of a letter will be construed as granting the American Academy of Family Physicians permission to publish the letter in any of its publications in any form. The editors may edit letters to meet style and space requirements.

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