Are Clinical Practice Guideline for Hepatitis C by the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease and Infectious Diseases Society of America Evidence-based? Financial Conflicts of Interest and Assessment of Quality of Evidence and Strength of Recommendations.

Financial conflicts of interest (FCOIs) of physicians could bias the tones of recommendations in clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) in the way to benefit commercial entities rather than patients. The US CPGs for hepatitis C by the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease (AASLD) and Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) are known for rigorous control of CPG development, although Jefferson et al. reported several discrepancy between the authors' self-reported FCOIs in the CPGs and their articles.