Declaring interests: necessary but not sufficient.

Continuing a decades old narrative in The BMJ , Abbasi emphasises the serious risks posed by doctors’ undisclosed competing interests and usefully extends the principle to scientists, policy makers, and politicians.1 To this list one might add corporate funded “think tanks” and lobbyists advocating policies that affect public health.2 While acknowledging the potential relevance of “less tangible” (non-financial) interests, for the purposes of a UK-wide register of doctors’ interests, Abbasi seems content to focus on the …