To the Editor: We support the findings of Tattersall and colleagues relating to the disclosure of competing interests by general practitioners to their patients, and we agree that greater transparency in general is required with physician–industry relationships.1 Such relationships have the potential to enhance patient outcomes through quality use of medicines. However, in the interests of a balanced perspective, several points regarding Tattersall et al’s article warrant attention.
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Brad Dalton has received consultancy fees from Amgen Australia, Sanofi-Aventis, Roche Products, AstraZeneca, Actelion Pharmaceuticals, Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute, the Australasian Gastrointestinal Trials Group, Gilead Sciences, the National Stroke Foundation of Australia, and Renal Research Tasmania. He was also involved with coordination of the meeting described in this letter. Deborah Richards is employed within the pharmaceutical industry.