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Too many doctors and researchers who help create guidelines for patient care have financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry, according to a study that investigated conflict of interest among a group of major Canadian and U.S. health care organizations.

“That indicates there is a potential risk of industry influence on guideline recommendations,” said Dr. Jennifer Neuman, the study’s lead author and instructor in the department of preventive medicine at New York’s Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

“Guidelines serve to standardize care and inform evidence-based practice and ultimately to protect patients. Their freedom from bias is very important.”