Connections between industry and academic medical scientists are not new. It has long been common practice for manufacturers of pharmaceuticals and medical devices to retain the services of academic scientists as consultants or to subsidize their research studies — particularly clinical trials of marketable products in which the company is interested. But in recent years, as the commercial possibilities of new biomedical discoveries have become increasingly attractive, these connections have become more pervasive, complex, and problematic.

Now, it is not only possible for medical investigators to have their research subsidized by businesses whose products they are studying, or act as . . .