Drug Companies Fund Drug Studies

[johnnymk]

from Newsmax.com

Drug companies fund a growing number of the studies in leading psychiatric journals, and drugs fare much better in these company-funded studies than in trials done independently or by competitors, researchers reported.

According to a report in USA Today about 57 percent of published studies were paid for by drug companies in 2002, compared with 25 percent in 1992, says psychiatrist Igor Galynker of Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City.

There were favorable outcomes for a medication in about:

Eight out of 10 studies paid for by the company that makes the drug.
Five out of 10 studies done with no industry support.
Three out of 10 studies done by competitors of the firm making the drug.
The findings don't prove the companies are knowingly biasing studies, says co-author Robert Kelly Jr., also with Beth Israel. The report didn't look at the evidence for bias in design of the studies.

[Houdini]

from Newsmax.com

Drug companies fund a growing number of the studies in leading psychiatric journals, and drugs fare much better in these company-funded studies than in trials done independently or by competitors, researchers reported.

According to a report in USA Today about 57 percent of published studies were paid for by drug companies in 2002, compared with 25 percent in 1992, says psychiatrist Igor Galynker of Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City.

There were favorable outcomes for a medication in about:

Eight out of 10 studies paid for by the company that makes the drug.
Five out of 10 studies done with no industry support.
Three out of 10 studies done by competitors of the firm making the drug.
The findings don't prove the companies are knowingly biasing studies, says co-author Robert Kelly Jr., also with Beth Israel. The report didn't look at the evidence for bias in design of the studies.

Not really news, but it is an important issue. I always sharpshoot the drug reps on stuff like this (just ask Haup. I've even managed to piss off a couple without trying to. It's their job to answer docs' questions or to find answers. If I smell BS, I call them on it and within a week I get a study in my mailbox.

I know a lot of studies about ANY drugs are done by the manufacturers, because they are the ones that are making the drug and want to see if it works. Independent double blind testing is great, but not very profitable. The problems come when you start claiming that drug A is better than drug B.

Still, as the report says, it didn't look for evidence of bias, of which there are several types.