What Should Be Roles of Industry and the Public in Diagnostic Research?

Abstract

Despite legislative attention from Congress in the 1980s, diagnostic research on rare diseases is not lucrative enough to garner sufficient private funding. The Undiagnosed Diseases Network supports diagnostic research and intervention innovation for patients with undiagnosed or rare conditions. This article considers structural conflict endemic among values seen as promoting corporate fiscal policy (eg, investment return, market share dominance) and values traditionally seen as motivating good public health policy (eg, rescue, non-abandonment). It argues that taxpayer investment in pharmaceutical innovation should be protected by expanding public understanding of conflicts of interest.