Medical Research or Drug Company Secrets?
- From: "JanD" <JanD@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 31 Jan 2006 01:44:10 GMT
http://www.mercola.com/2002/nov/20/drug_companies.htm
Medical Research or Drug Company Secrets?
Ideally, medical research should be independent and should receive its
support from non-industry sources, such as governments. However, funding for
such research can be hard to come by, if not non-existent.
In reality, drug companies have become the largest sponsors of medical
research. The research produces valuable information, but a recent report
voiced concern that the sponsors' influence and control over the studies may
represent a conflict of interest.
Pharmaceutical companies represent such a large portion of medical
studies that results could inappropriately impact healthcare policies,
leaving them in favor of drug treatment rather than non-drug alternatives.
At the same time, this research "monopoly" could make it harder for
alternative opinions to be heard, thus furthering the use of drugs and
possibly causing important new routes of research to be overlooked.
The report noted that pharmaceutical companies spend more time on the
generation and dissemination of information than they do producing
medicines. Though this is partly to satisfy licensing requirements and
protect patents, companies also use this data to promote sales of their
medications. The authors worry that as independent sources of information
decrease, prescribers will become reliant on drug-company representatives
for information on medications.
The report, which focuses on multinational drug firms, brings up the
fact that medical research results are selectively released and often kept
secret from the public. Only select data is made publically available
through papers in medical journals, presentations at medical conferences or
product labeling.
One author stated that when results support a product, there is ample
information released about the product and its functions. Conversely, if a
product does not perform well in a study, information is often hard to come
by.
Publication is a major way that research studies can raise awareness
about a drug, however publishing information that may cast doubt about a
drug could cause product sales to go down. To increase drug sales, it is
necessary that the publication show the product in a positive way. As a
possible result of this, the report states that trials with negative results
tend to be published much later than those with positive conclusions.
Additionally, authors note that company-sponsored studies tend to have
results that favor the sponsor's product much more than those sponsored by
other sources. Though it is unclear why this trend happens, according to the
report, a bias in trial design is possible. The study also notes that drug
companies have threatened legal action to stop the publishing of negative
material and to recover the value of lost sales. Moreover, about 30 percent
of researcher's contracts contain a statement allowing sponsors to delete
information from a report and delay publication.
Many journals also receive income from drug companies through
advertising. As a result, publishers may be influenced to publish results
that are favorable to the sponsors, thereby furthering the prevalence of
positive results in published reports.
Another aspect of the dilemma is that regulations in place do little
to control drug companies' promotions of their products. Much of the
policing is left up to the drug companies' themselves. The authors mention
drug firms' funding of patient-advocacy groups and giving gifts to doctors
as potential problems.
Though authors state that pharmaceutical companies' investment in
medical research produces a lot of valuable information, they believe that
the companies' control over the studies and lack of openness regarding
research threatens patients' best interests. They state that consumers
should be aware of the potential consequences of industry-dominated
research.
The Lancet November 2, 2002; 360: 1405-09
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