Conflicting policies on conflict of interest at Michigan

Universities are obviously struggling with the whole conflict of interest concept. Duff Wilson of the New York Times, who reported recently that the University of Michigan medical school was abandoning industry support for continuing medical education, now reports that the University’s president “sits on the board of directors for the pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson. Last year, the company paid her $229,978, roughly half in stock and half in cash, for attending a limited number of meetings, corporate filings show.”

One learned observer told the Times: “It strikes me that Michigan may need to spend some time working through this on their own.”