{
  "id": 3609068,
  "title": "Eminent cardiologist involved in treatment guidelines received £50 million from drug research contracts",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/26/eminent-cardiologist-involved-in-treatment-guidelines-received-50",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-08-26T22:30:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Medical Xpress",
    "slug": "medical-xpress",
    "url": "https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-eminent-cardiologist-involved-treatment-guidelines.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A prominent British cardiologist, Kim Fox, who served as the former president of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), has been found guilty of serious misconduct by the ESC. The investigation, revealed by a Danish TV documentary in September 2024, disclosed that Fox had been involved in creating guidelines for the heart medication ivabradine while simultaneously receiving over £50 million from lucrative contracts with the drug's manufacturer, French company Servier. This came to light between 2006 and 2015, during which Fox and his wife, Karen Summers, held key positions at Heart Research, a UK-based contract research organization. Fox chaired an ESC task force that recommended ivabradine as an alternative treatment for angina in 2006, a guideline that was subsequently published but did not explicitly disclose Fox's potential conflicts of interest. Despite the guideline failing to meet primary endpoints in one of the three trials involving Heart Research, Fox continued to publicly advocate for the drug even after becoming outgoing ESC president in 2008. The ESC's ethics committee ruled in March 2025 that Fox had failed to uphold his ethical obligations, labeling his actions as severe misconduct. Fox has since resigned from his ESC membership, citing that he had always disclosed his conflicts of interest. The ESC acknowledged that its conflict of interest declaration process was relatively lax during the early 2000s and has since strengthened its procedures. Meanwhile, Servier maintains that they adhere strictly to transparency guidelines set by the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations. The case has reignited discussions about the necessity for more stringent regulations on conflicts of interest in medical guideline development, as some European nations are pushing for legal reforms to ensure greater transparency.",
  "summary": "A British cardiologist and former president of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) has been judged by the ESC to have committed severe misconduct after a Danish TV documentary reported that he had been involved in drawing up guidelines for the use of the heart drug ivabradine (Corlanor, Procoralan) while profiting from lucrative contracts with the drug's maker.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}