The discussion has focused almost exclusively on pecuniary, or financial, interests. But these may play a relatively minor role in medicine. Most doctors or researchers don’t do what they do primarily to increase their material wealth. If making money was their primary goal, they could choose more effective ways of doing so.
The motivations that underlie most decisions in medicine are not financial. Rather they range from an interest in patient care or research or public welfare, to a commitment to certain ideas, principles or values and the desire for personal advancement in career, reputation or status.
These factors are powerful drivers of decisions and actions and are no less capable of generating conflicts than the prospect of monetary rewards. Division of loyalties between the roles of clinician, researcher, administrator or public health practitioner may create serious concerns or anxieties; personal religious or political commitments may undermine the operation of an ethics or policy committee; and the quest for international recognition may overcome the natural caution or circumspection required of clinical judgement.
http://theconversation.edu.au/dont-show-me-the-money-the-dangers-of-non-financial-conflicts-5013
