Sugarman & Nimmagadda (Psychiatric Bulletin, November 2007, 31, 404–406) make declarations of potential conflicts of interest in their piece on the independent sector. What they fail to do is to consider the potential for profit-driven mental health services to erode the human rights of individuals who fall liable to treatment under mental health legislation. Corporations that thrive financially from the forcible treatment of vulnerable individuals deserve more scrutiny. Unless the College can demonstrate the highest standards of integrity in this sensitive area, it will rightly lose its influence in our democratic institutions and squander the high regard in which it is held by the public. I feel sure that all members of the College would share my concerns.