Industrial support of orthopaedic research in the academic setting

Industry support provides critical resources for researchers in departments of orthopaedic surgery, and affords research that otherwise likely would not be possible. However, in contrast to sponsorship from the federal agencies or most foundations, corporate sponsorship raises ethical, practical, and legal issues for the individual researcher, the department, the academic institution, the scientific community at large, and industry. Most of these issues relate to ownership of intellectual property, confidentiality, disclosure of results, and apparent bias. For the public the issues involve ethical issues, including trust. Academic institutions have evolved approaches for contracts with industry, which minimize, but not eliminate these problems. Given appropriate contracts, corporate sponsorship of research is not only mutually beneficial, but for many departments, critical.