Liz Brooks writes that if other types of clinicians are selling products to persons to whom they are also providing care, they must have solved whatever conflict of interest issues they had.

I wish that were true, but the fact is they might simply not realize what 'conflict of interest' is and why it presents ethical problems to the conscientious clinician, or they may not care that they are caught in a conflict, because they care more about selling the product to make more money than they do about behaving ethically defensibly.

There can be no doubt that the potential for a problematic conflict of interest exists when the person providing the service and recommending that a product be used, is also the person who stands to benefit financially from such use.  We have seen posts on how some people solve that conflict in their own practices.  Go back and take a look at the posts in this thread.  In fact, go back and take a look at what Barbara Wilson-Clay has posted on this very topic.  (This is a hidden exercise in using the archive search function!)   She had posts on the subject 'ethics' on May 31, 2003 and Sept 15, 2003.  She also posted on August 25 and August 26, 2000, subject 'selling things'.  All these posts are apropos the current discussion, and I am mentioning them because Barbara is a beacon in the field as a clinician and an excellent writer besides.

I am not quoting excerpts from the posts because if someone else excerpts my quotes from Barbara, it becomes hard to see who the real author is, and Barbara should be appropriately identified because these posts are Lactnet classics.

Happy to see us discussing ethics and conflicts of interest in any case,
Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway

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