Conflicted scientists: the “shared pool” dilemma of scientific advisory committees

Science advisors play a critical role in government policy making, yet these advisorsare often equally attractive to regulated industry. Despite efforts to manageconflicts of interest among science advisors, allegations of conflict frequentlyplague advisory committee deliberations or outcomes. This article examines what weterm the “shared pool” dilemma using data collected from 92members of 11 US Food and Drug Administration advisory committees. The resultssuggested science advisors were generally positive about their experiences onadvisory committees and viewed the committee process as impartial. Written commentssuggested that advisors linked the neutrality of the process to the success of theFDA’s conflict-of-interest procedures. Even so, the advisors acknowledgedthe challenges associated with recruiting disinterested and qualifiedscientists to serve on advisory committees, reflecting the shared pool dilemma. Manyadvisors seemed more troubled about advisors participating when they lackedexpertise than when they had minor conflicts of interest