On Free Lunches and Free Choices

By Mikkael Sekeres, MD, MS

My mother-in-law was in need of a new hip. She met with the orthopedist who would perform her surgery, and the two quickly bonded.

“Now, I have to tell you that the artificial hip I’m going to use is one that I had a hand in inventing, and although I will receive no royalties for implanting this hip in you, I do have a conflict of interest, and want to make sure you’re OK with that,” he said.

I sit on our institution’s conflict of interest committee. There are a number of different types of potential conflicts that can arise. Though they don’t constitute the majority of doctor-patient interactions, scenarios where a doctor invents a technology or develops a drug and receives payments every time that technology or drug is used are becoming increasingly common.

Read the full New York Times column by Dr. Sekeres,