An eminent US academic medical centre last week began publicly disclosing the financial interests of its 1,800 doctors and scientists. The website of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio will list the collaborations with industry of every staff physician and scientist, including consulting relationships that pay $5,000 or more per year.

The medical school and health system of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia plans to launch a similar disclosure system in spring 2009.

Other medical institutions are under growing pressure to follow suit. Senator Charles Grassley (Republican, Iowa) is aggressively investigating under-reporting of financial relationships by scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health. He has also introduced legislation that would oblige drug and device makers to make public all physician payments of $500 or more in cash or kind.