Conflict of interest related to clinical practice is under-reported: the case of non-invasive prenatal testing.

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Abstract

Authors of policy statements from the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and from the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine do not acknowledge the potential for their clinical income to influence their opinions, or the positions of the societies they represent. These policy statements were published in Obstetrics and Gynecology and the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, again, without acknowledgement of the potential for conflict of interest. The case of non-invasive prenatal testing, which has threatened the role of maternal-fetal medicine in the practice of prenatal screening and diagnosis, and has significantly reduced the demand for invasive prenatal diagnosis, illustrates the importance of identifying this potential conflict.