Ethics review for sale? Conflict of interest and commercial research review boards

Research review boards, established to protect the rights and welfare of hu man research subjects, have to ensure that conflicts of interest do not int erfere with the ethical conduct of medical research. Private, commercial re view boards, which increasingly review research protocols, are themselves a ffected by a structural conflict of interest. Within the regulatory setting , procedural conflict-of-interest rules research review and the reliance on the fairness and good judgment of institutional review board members. Curr ent guidelines and regulations lack adequate conflict-of-interest rules and provide insufficient details on the substantive rules. Because commercial review boards are similar to administrative courts and tribunals, rules of administrative law on bias are applied to determine when a conflict of inte rest jeopardizes the purposes of research review; administrative law has al ways judged financial conflicts of interest severely. The structure of priv ate review tends to breach a core principle of administrative law and proce dural justice. Reform of research review system will reinforce public trust in the process.