A study by Associate Professor Ray Moynihan shows almost three quarters of leaders of US medical associations have financial ties to industry.

The findings on more than 300 medical leaders across 10 major disease areas, including heart disease, cancer and mental disorders, add weight to calls for reform, says Professor Moynihan and his colleagues at Bond University on the Gold Coast.

“To our knowledge, this was the first study to look at the ties between industry and a large group of leaders of influential medical associations in the US,” said Professor Moynihan, who is a proponent of evidence-base medicine. 

“These results matter … because these medical associations have huge influence over medical research, over how doctors are educated, and over how doctors actually practice medicine.”