CYIL vol. 14 (2023)

CYIL 14 (2023) CONFLICT OF INTEREST IN MEDICAL RESEARCH debated, or analyzed. 89 a recommendation called Ethical Framework for Research 90 (further referred to as the Ethical Framework Recommendation ) was submitted by the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports in 2005 and was symbolically acknowledged by the Czech government thereafter. 91 However, the nature of the Ethical Framework Recommendation is indeed purely recommendatory and, so far, there is no indication 92 that it has ever been elaborated further within the ethical framework (e.g., adopting a more detailed definition of which interests might be considered as competing interests). According to the Explanatory Report to the Ethical Framework Recommendation, 93 conflict s of interest are considered to be an important issue. However, in the Ethical Framework Recommendation , there is no separate chapter on conflicts of interest. Instead, selected provisions on conflicts of interest are to be found in several contexts, mainly as a part of the individual ethical responsibility of a researcher and with connection to the ethics of a research institution. The most relevant of which, for the purpose of the paper, are the following: Under Art. 3.1c) of the Ethical Framework Recommendation , the researcher shall avoid any function (incl. advisory) in research management, administration or funding, if there are severe concerns that researcher’s personal, research, professional, financial or other activities might constitute a conflict of interest and therefore influence the researcher’s objectivity, competence or decisive ability connected with the function. 94 Under Art. 4 of the Ethical Framework Recommendation , the research institution shall prevent conflict of interest, esp. through establishing an independent evaluation; 95 the research institution shall identify in the initial phase of every research project potential conflicts of interest and eliminate them, 96 and cooperate with the commercial sphere transparently without conflicts of interest. 97 Leaving the Ethical Framework Recommendation aside, the remaining currently existing Czech regulations and policies on conflict of interest could be described as vague, fragmented, and uncoordinated. It is questionable whether they could adequately serve their purpose. To be certain that I had included all the relevant regulations and policies in this paper, I contacted the Czech Science Foundation and the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic, the State Institute for Drug Control and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports by email, in addition to my online search (legal database). The general legal framework for research, development and innovation is provided by Act No. 341/2005 Coll., on public research institutions . After the Clinical Trials Regulation 89 One of the few contributions would be a paper introducing the WMA Statement on Conflict of Interest from 2009. In: FIALOVÁ, L., ŠPAČEK, M., VYCHYTIL, P. Střet zájmů v medicíně: stanovisko Světové lékařské asociace. [Conflict of interest in medicine: position of the World Medical Association]. Časopis lékařů českých . 2011; 150; 554–557, or the initiative called Transparentní spolupráce (Transparent Cooperation). Even though more details are available online https://aifp.cz/cs/transparentni-spoluprace-4/, my query regarding the current state of the initiative and its future vision has remained unanswered. 90 Ministerstvo školství, mládeže a tělovýchovy ČR. Etický rámec výzkumu . [Ethical framework of research]. 2005. Accessed August 15, 2023. https://www.msmt.cz/file/35782. 91 Cf. the Resolution of the Government of the Czech Republic No. 1005/2005 92 Based on searching through public online sources, combined with addressed requests via emails. 93 Explanatory report to the Ethical Framework Recommendation . Accessed August 15, 2023. https://www.msmt. cz/file/35781.

94 Art. 3.1 b) of the Ethical Framework Recommendation . 95 Art. 4 g) of the Ethical Framework Recommendation . 96 Art. 4 h) of the Ethical Framework Recommendation . 97 Art. 4 j) of the Ethical Framework Recommendation .

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