Healthy Skepticism Library item: 2680

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: news

Taylor R, Giles J.
Cash interests taint drug advice
Nature 2005 Oct 20
http://www.nature.com/news/2005/051017/full/4371070a.html

Abstract:

Vol 437|20 October 2005
1070
NEWS
Researchers and physicians who write the
rules on prescribing drugs have extensive
financial connections with the pharmaceutical
industry, an investigation by Nature has
revealed. Public-health experts say that the
results of the survey, which is the largest of its
kind, suggest that drug companies are distorting
decisions about how their products are
being prescribed.
In the investigation of the panels that write
clinical guidelines – documents that govern
the diagnosis and treatment of patients – Nature found that more than one-third of
authors declared financial links to relevant drug
companies, with around 70% of panels being
affected. In one case, every member of the panel
had been paid by the company responsible for
the drug that was ultimately recommended.
These links with pharmaceutical companies
are more worrying than the financial conflicts
known to plague clinical trials and reviews, say
public-health experts, because the guidelines
have such a direct effect on the drugs that doctors
prescribe. “The guidelines are specifically
written to influence the practice of many
physicians,” says Niteesh Choudhry, a specialist
in health policy at Harvard Medical School.
“The effects of conflicts may be translated
many times over to patients.”
“The numbers in the survey are distressing,”
agrees Drummond Rennie, deputy editor of
the Journal of the American Medical Association
and an advocate of proposals to free
guidelines from industry influence. “Drugcompany
sponsors see guideline-issuing
bodies as perfect places to exert influence.
The practice stinks.”
Continued…

Notes:

Ralph Faggotter’s Comments:
A recurring theme for Healthy Skepticism is the idea of ‘conflict of interest’ in medicine.

How can it be good our confidence in the accuracy of clinical guidelines if the writers of those guidelines own stock in certain drug companies? Or are paid consultants to those companies?

Full text:

Subscribe to ‘Nature’ to get the full article – go to http://www.nature.com/news/2005/051017/full/4371070a.html

see Vol 437|20 October 2005
1070