Swiss hospitals urged to disclose doctors’ conflicts of interest

Hospitals on cantonal lists should fully and regularly disclose the interests held by their senior staff. The Federal Quality Commission says this requirement would reduce the risk of personal or financial interests influencing patient care.

The Commission is asking cantons to make inclusion on a hospital list conditional on such transparency. Institutions should also actively prevent declared links from becoming conflicts of interest and accept direct responsibility towards their patients.

A second set of recommendations concerns research and experimental treatments. Strategic and operational management bodies should ensure that every project complies with the Human Research Act and ethical standards. This includes approval by the competent body, a careful benefit-risk assessment, complete information for patients, voluntary participation, documentation and monitoring of clinical outcomes.

Consequences of the Zurich case

The recommendations follow an investigation into events between 2016 and 2020 in cardiac surgery at Zurich University Hospital. The case is associated with former department head Francesco Maisano. The hospital referred around twenty cases to judicial authorities; Maisano rejects the allegations. Any responsibility remains for the legal investigations to establish, and the presumption of innocence applies.

The Commission is not proposing an end to innovative treatments. It argues that medical progress requires hospital management and supervisory bodies capable of critically examining both clinical risks and the economic interests of those involved.

The recommendations do not in themselves create a new nationwide legal duty. Implementation depends on cantons and the governing bodies of healthcare providers. The political challenge will be to turn the principle of transparency into verifiable criteria that are updated regularly and carry consequences when a conflict is not managed.

For patients, publishing a list is not enough. What matters is whether a hospital identifies a relevant interest before a treatment decision and whether consent to an experimental procedure is genuinely informed and voluntary.