Footnotes

• Contributors PK wrote the manuscript with critical revision from PJD.

• Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

• Competing interests PK has received grants/reagents/consultant/advisor/ honoraria from the laboratory diagnostic industry, specifically from Abbott Laboratories, Beckman Coulter, Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, Randox Laboratories, Roche Diagnostics and Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics. McMaster University has filed patents with PK listed as an inventor in the acute cardiovascular biomarker field. PJD is a member of a research group with a policy of not accepting honorariums or other payments from industry for their own personal financial gain. They do accept honorariums/payments from industry to support research endeavours and costs to participate in meetings. Based on study questions PJD originated and grants he has written, he has received grants from Abbott Diagnostics, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers-Squibb, Coviden, Octapharma, Philips Healthcare, Roche Diagnostics and Stryker. He has also participated in an advisory board meeting for GlaxoSmithKline and an expert panel meeting with AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim and Roche.

• Patient consent for publication Not required.

• Provenance and peer review Commissioned; internally peer reviewed.