Investigators should disclose all financial interests:

All financial arrangements between a clinical investigator and a sponsor should be disclosed, believes Public Citizen. Commenting on the US FDA's proposed rule on financial disclosure, Public Citizen's Health Research Group says that while it disagrees with any shareholding threshold before disclosure is triggered, it considers a "trigger" threshold of $10,000 more appropriate than the 5% of total equity put forward by the agency. Elimination of "significant payments of other sorts" offers a substantial loophole, says HRG: any type of economic tie between a sponsor and a clinical investigator is regarded as presenting a potential conflict of interest. If a threshold is set for significant payments, the consumer group opposes any move to raise it above the proposal of $5,000 annually.