Footnotes

• Competing interests RD was chair of the UK Surviving Sepsis Campaign at the time of the study cited. He has received honoraria and consultancy fees, and been reimbursed by Eli Lilly & Co, the manufacturer of the Critical Care drug Xigris, for attending a number of conferences. The education programme, Survive Sepsis, received unrestricted educational grants in 2007 from Eli Lilly and from Astra Zeneca, manufacturers of the antibiotic Meropenem; Edwards Lifesciences, manufacturer of the Vigileo/Flotrac cardiac output monitoring system; and Vygon UK, manufacturers of central venous catheters. Neither RD nor Survive Sepsis have received funds during the last 24 months. TN received a single honorarium from Eli Lilly and Co. in 2007 for a presentation at a European meeting.

• Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; not externally peer reviewed.