Marcia Angell:

After much unfavorable publicity, medical schools and professional organizations are beginning to talk about controlling conflicts of interest, but so far the response has been tepid. They consistently refer to "potential" conflicts of interest, as though that were different from the real thing, and about disclosing and "managing" them, not about prohibiting them. In short, there seems to be a desire to eliminate the smell of corruption, while keeping the money.

Have you seen Perfume?

From the archive:

The average Afghan spends one-fifth of his income on bribes.

The current method for disclosing conflicts of interest among medical researchers is an honor system in which researchers report their relationships with drug and medical-device makers, but nobody checks to make sure the information is accurate.