Pharma 101 - Pharmaceutical Fraud

Archive for the 'Clinical Trials' Category

Pharma Has Its Nose In Clinical Trials

A survey published in the New York Journal of Medicine found that more than a third of experts who oversee clinical trials at both medical schools and research hospitals have financial ties to pharmacutical and/or medical device companies. It was further found that some experts had a direct conflict of interest under federal rules; voting on or discussing clinical trials sponsored by companies they had relationships with or competitors of those very same companies. These experts may be part of review boards who are supposed to be insuring the scientific validity of clinical trials and safeguarding the safety of patient participants. Susan L. Rose, executive director of University of Southern California’s Office for the Protection of Research Subjects, said academic institutions had been reassessing their policies and discussing the need for mandatory disclosures. To read more click here:

Industry Drug Studies Can Mislead

Article Says Industry Drug Studies Can Mislead, With Results Often Favoring Test Company’s Product

An article in The Wall Street Journal Europe discusses how trials conducted by drug companies and those conducted by the government and other public entities may produce varied results, prompting some to ask whether the research establishment needs to be reoriented toward publicly funded studies.

For example, an analysis published in the American Journal of Psychiatry found that in every publicly available trial funded by the pharmaceutical industry pitting five new antipsychotic drugs against one another, nine in 10 showed that the best drug was the one made by the company funding the study. The authors point out that the discrepancies may result from biases in design and interpretation.

Experts say the problem is exacerbated in areas of medicine where the goal of trials is not to demonstrate cures but to measure symptomatic relief, which allows more latitude in how the results are interpreted and marketed. (The Wall Street Journal Europe)