An editorial was published on a particular subject in which the author’s competing interests were declared. He had given evidence on behalf of patients making a claim against a manufacturer. Three people then separately pointed out that we had already published a commentary on the same subject in which there had been no declaration of competing interest for the author. The three people all said that this author did have competing interests. A review of the documentation revealed a statement of competing interest from the author in his role as reviewer of the paper on which he subsequently produced a commentary. In his statement he said that he received funds from the pharmaceutical industry for speaking, researching, and advising—and for employing staff. He then, however, ticked the box to say he had no competing interest. He had not been asked to sign a separate statement of competing interest for the commentary, and so nothing appeared. He has now been asked to make a declaration of competing interest, which he has done. What lessons can the committee draw from this case, and should anything more be done?
_ It is important that editorial staff are more vigilant in scrutinising competing interest forms. _ In this case enough has been done.
The competing interests of the authors were published on the journal’s website.