Prevalence of Industry Support and its Relationship to Research Integrity (original) (raw)
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Confronting the conflict of interest crisis in medical research
Monash Bioethics Review, 2004
In the last couple of years, serious controversies have raised doubts over the reliability of research supporting the efficacy and safety of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, popular drugs used for the treatment of depression and a variety of related conditions. These controversies have also evoked concerns over the promotional tactics used by industry to promote these drugs. In another article in this volume, David Healy argues that the tactics highlighted by these and some other recent controversies in psychiatry have brought medical research itself to the level of commercial publicity. In the following article, I provide some additional first-hand information about controversies in which David Healy was involved. I then situate these controversies within the context of the increasing commercialization of medical research. I discuss how the controversies highlight the failure of existing regulatory regimes in curbing inappropriate industry influence over research. I critically analyse some of the measures recently promoted by the medical research community, such as the introduction of a clinical trial registry, and I indicate why these measures are insufficient. In conclusion, I highlight how a more radical reform of the clinical trials scene is needed.
Publication Bias In Clinical Research Sponsored By Pharmaceutical Industry
Scripta Scientifica Pharmaceutica, 2014
An increasing number of clinical trials are funded by the pharmaceutical industry, and the industry has strong commercial interests in research publications that present their products positively and enhance their sales. As main sponsor of clinical trials, the pharmaceutical industry has gained unprecedented control over the evaluation of its own products and communication of research results. There is mounting evidence that industry-sponsored trials are biased in favor of the sponsor's products. Various potential ways have been described in which pharmaceutical concerns exert influence on the outcome of a study and its communication, however, publication bias proved to be a major cause for bias in industry-funded trials. Pharmaceutical industry and its sponsored investigators selectively report favorable outcomes, fail to publish whole studies with unfavorable results, or publish studies with favorable results multiple times. Such manipulation of research communication might greatly jeopardize the scientific basis for good clinical practice. This article explores the aspects of clinical trial performance that can be affected by pharmaceutical company sponsorship, particularly emphasizing on results dissemination and publication. It is aimed at describing the relationship between pharmaceutical industry sponsorship and bias in research publication. By revealing the scope of the problem and its essence-it attempts to sensitize the scientific, professional and publishing societies and provoke actions to prevent and control the problem.
Science and Engineering Ethics, 2005
Involvement of industry in academic research is widespread and associated with favorable outcomes for industry. The objective of this study was to review empirical data on the attitudes of researchers toward industry involvement and financial ties in research. A review of the literature for quantitative data from surveys on the attitudes of researchers to financial ties in research, reported in English, resulted in the 17 studies included. Review of these studies revealed that investigators are concerned about the impact of financial ties on choice of research topic, research conduct and publication, but this concern is less among investigators already involved with industry. Researchers approve of industry collaboration and financial ties when the ties are indirectly related to the research, disclosure is upfront, and results and ideas are freely publicized. However, their trust in disclosure as a way to manage conflicts may reveal a lack of awareness of the actual impact of financial incentives on themselves and other researchers.
Pharmaceutical industry sponsorship and research outcome and quality: systematic review
BMJ, 2003
Objective To investigate whether funding of drug studies by the pharmaceutical industry is associated with outcomes that are favourable to the funder and whether the methods of trials funded by pharmaceutical companies differ from the methods in trials with other sources of support. Methods Medline searches were supplemented with material identified in the references and in the authors' personal files. Data were independently abstracted by three of the authors and disagreements were resolved by consensus.