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Words of Verner Wheelock
In a submission to the House of Commons Health Committee, Richard Horton, editor of the Lancet, spelled out the problems which have arisen as a result of the heavy involvement of the drug companies in medical research as follows:
“the extent of the commercial sponsorship of medical research and its intrusion into the academic sphere is one of the gravest threats to the independent evaluation of new medicines—indeed to the notion of an independent science base. Without greater scrutiny of the interaction between private and public sectors, the health of our population will continue to be put at risk by biased, over-interpreted, and misreported research findings. At present, our population is part of a largely unregulated experiment involving poorly investigated new medicines that have been licensed on the basis of insufficient data”
He went on to describe how the entire process of publication of scientific research has been debased by the activities of the drug companies, whose over-riding consideration is the promotion of their products to the exclusion of all other factors. Examples include:
Manipulation of research findings. A drug which had “no effect” according to the researchers but the marketing actually claimed “primary endpoints significant in hypertensive patients”, which was a total distortion of the actual result.
Bias in sponsored studies: research has demonstrated clearly that sponsored studies are more likely to produce a positive result for a company than an independent study of their product.
Hiding negative data: the classic recent example concerned Paxil (GlaxoSmithKline). The results of trials which were not disclosed showed a pattern suggesting limited efficacy of the drug and risks of potentially fatal adverse effects. The available published evidence indicated a very different story. Under pressure, GSK was forced to reveal these hidden results—leading to a $2.5 million US legal settlement and an unequivocal FDA warning about the risks of the drug.
Undisclosed conflicts of interest: the escalating problem of industry payments to scientists—stock options, consultancy fees, research grants, staff costs, entertainment, conference fees, hospitality—has been recognised for several years.
Editorial kick-backs: The Lancet has been offered substantial sums of money in exchange for publishing certain research studies.
This is all sordid, unethical and totally unacceptable. A Medical-Industrial Complex definitely does exist. There is absolutely no doubt that industry, governments and the professionals interact and collaborate to exploit people when they are most vulnerable. Because all the players are very powerful, it will not be easy to achieve reform in order to ensure that the drug companies are subject to stringent regulatory control. Probably the best hope is transparency with the assistance of the internet. The recent incident involving Rory Collins and the BMJ is at least an encouraging sign that the drug companies and their acolytes are no longer getting their own way (5,6). The one thing we can all do is to be very, very careful before agreeing to take any drug.
Full article here http://vernerwheelock.com/?p=581
In a submission to the House of Commons Health Committee, Richard Horton, editor of the Lancet, spelled out the problems which have arisen as a result of the heavy involvement of the drug companies in medical research as follows:
“the extent of the commercial sponsorship of medical research and its intrusion into the academic sphere is one of the gravest threats to the independent evaluation of new medicines—indeed to the notion of an independent science base. Without greater scrutiny of the interaction between private and public sectors, the health of our population will continue to be put at risk by biased, over-interpreted, and misreported research findings. At present, our population is part of a largely unregulated experiment involving poorly investigated new medicines that have been licensed on the basis of insufficient data”
He went on to describe how the entire process of publication of scientific research has been debased by the activities of the drug companies, whose over-riding consideration is the promotion of their products to the exclusion of all other factors. Examples include:
Manipulation of research findings. A drug which had “no effect” according to the researchers but the marketing actually claimed “primary endpoints significant in hypertensive patients”, which was a total distortion of the actual result.
Bias in sponsored studies: research has demonstrated clearly that sponsored studies are more likely to produce a positive result for a company than an independent study of their product.
Hiding negative data: the classic recent example concerned Paxil (GlaxoSmithKline). The results of trials which were not disclosed showed a pattern suggesting limited efficacy of the drug and risks of potentially fatal adverse effects. The available published evidence indicated a very different story. Under pressure, GSK was forced to reveal these hidden results—leading to a $2.5 million US legal settlement and an unequivocal FDA warning about the risks of the drug.
Undisclosed conflicts of interest: the escalating problem of industry payments to scientists—stock options, consultancy fees, research grants, staff costs, entertainment, conference fees, hospitality—has been recognised for several years.
Editorial kick-backs: The Lancet has been offered substantial sums of money in exchange for publishing certain research studies.
This is all sordid, unethical and totally unacceptable. A Medical-Industrial Complex definitely does exist. There is absolutely no doubt that industry, governments and the professionals interact and collaborate to exploit people when they are most vulnerable. Because all the players are very powerful, it will not be easy to achieve reform in order to ensure that the drug companies are subject to stringent regulatory control. Probably the best hope is transparency with the assistance of the internet. The recent incident involving Rory Collins and the BMJ is at least an encouraging sign that the drug companies and their acolytes are no longer getting their own way (5,6). The one thing we can all do is to be very, very careful before agreeing to take any drug.
Full article here http://vernerwheelock.com/?p=581
