In May 2000, HHS announced five initiatives to strengthen human subject protection in clinical research. One of these was to develop guidance on financial conflict of interest that would serve to further protect research participants. As part of this initiative, HHS held a conference on the topic of human subject protection and financial conflict of interest on August 15-16, 2000. A draft interim guidance document, “Financial Relationships in Clinical Research: Issues for Institutions, Clinical Investigators, and IRBs to Consider when Dealing with Issues of Financial Interests and Human Subject Protection,” based on information obtained at and subsequent to that conference was made available to.
